Department for Transport

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to announce whether the Great Western mainline to Bristol will be fully electrified; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail is delivering the Great Western Electrification Programme to the dates set out in the latest publication of their Enhancement Delivery plan. This includes completing electrification of the Great Western Mainline between London and Bristol Parkway and on to Cardiff by December 2018.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits for passengers in terms of capacity, frequency and journey times of the full electrification of the Great Western mainline to Bristol.

Paul Maynard: Frequency and journey times on the Great Western mainline will be decided as part of the industry timetabling process which will in turn inform the improved capacity of the network. Once the current programme is complete, over 100 million rail journey experiences will improve each year, there will be an extra 4,900 extra seats into London and it is expected that journey times between London, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea will reduce by around 15 minutes.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the role of the Office of Rail and Road is in relation to the full electrification of the Great Western mainline to Bristol.

Paul Maynard: The Office of Rail and Road is the independent economic and safety regulator for the railways. In relation to the enhancements and electrification of the Great Western Main Line, it is responsible for monitoring the delivery of certain regulated outputs set out in Network Rail’s Enhancements Delivery Plan.

Southern: Standards

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement the Gibb Report's recommendation that stabling facilities and a depot be made available in Crowborough.

Paul Maynard: As soon as we received the report, the Department assessed Chris Gibb’s technical recommendations against work or commitments that were already planned or underway. Chris Gibb’s recommendation to provide stabling facilities are related to his recommendation to electrify the Uckfield Line. These proposals will be further assessed in light of available funding, as part of the development of our infrastructure upgrade plans for Control Period 6, covering 2019-2024.

Southern: Standards

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the recommendations in the Gibb Report on the performance of Southern trains.

Paul Maynard: Chris Gibb’s independent report into Southern Rail makes a number of recommendations for the network that we are already working with industry to deliver. Performance has been consistently better since the new year with the Public Performance Measure – which measures performance across train operators - currently at 85% on Southern, compared to 62% in early December 2016. We want and expect this figure to improve further, but that can only happen if industrial action by the trade unions stops. The Gibb Report was clear that the main cause of widespread disruption on Southern was union action.

Lewes-Uckfield Railway Line: Electrification

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement the Gibb Report's recommendation that the Uckfield line be electrified.

Paul Maynard: The Government is committed to improving services on the Uckfield Line. We recently completed a £19.2m project to enable longer 10-car trains to operate on the line, giving passengers much-needed extra seating and space. Chris Gibb’s electrification proposals will be further assessed in light of available funding, as part of the development of our infrastructure upgrade plans for Control Period 6, covering 2019-2024.

Bus Services: Concessions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason disabled people in receipt of a free bus pass are not permitted to use that pass before 9.30am between Monday to Friday; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that provision on the ability of disabled people to access employment.

Jesse Norman: The original intention of the statutory minimum bus travel concession scheme was to provide access to essential local services and to help prevent social isolation. The scheme was introduced as an off-peak concession only, when there is likely to be unused capacity on buses.However, the Government recognises the importance of accessible transport for disabled people, and the Department continues to work with the Department for Work and Pensions and other Government Departments on this issue, as well as with local authorities and the transport sector. Local authorities have the powers of their own to offer concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including peak hour travel.

Southern: Standards

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons some appendices were missing from the published version of the report by Chris Gibb, Changes to improve the performance of the Southern network and train services and restore passenger confidence, published in December 2016; and whose decision it was not to (a) publish Appendix 9 on recommendations regarding the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise agreement and (b) make an explicit reference to or indicate the redaction of that appendix.

Paul Maynard: Chris Gibb’s independent report was published on 22 June. The Department for Transport have published the full report. Two sections were redacted to protect commercial confidentiality, these are Appendix 9 and a paragraph in the main body of the report at section 4.1.3. Aside from these redactions only names, telephone numbers and photographs were redacted.

Southern: Standards

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which parts of the report by Chris Gibb, Changes to improve the performance of the Southern network and train services and restore passenger confidence, published in December 2016, have been redacted; and if he will list those redactions by page and paragraph number.

Paul Maynard: Chris Gibb’s independent report was published on 22 June. The Department for Transport have published the full report. Two sections were redacted to protect commercial confidentiality, these are Appendix 9 and a paragraph in the main body of the report at section 4.1.3. Aside from these redactions only names, telephone numbers and photographs were redacted.

Crossrail 2 Line

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Michele Dix, Chief Executive of Crossrail 2.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the construction of Crossrail 2.

Paul Maynard: Ministers and officials at the Department for Transport hold regular meetings with representatives of Transport for London and the Greater London Authority at which a range of issues are discussed, including Crossrail 2.

Railways: Bus Services

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that passengers who have to travel on a bus replacement service in lieu of a planned rail journey are compensated; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: Passengers rightly demand improvements to our railway services. That is why we are currently investing billions each year across the network. However, from time to time, it may be necessary to replace a train service with a bus or coach. Train companies’ responsibilities to passengers who have purchased a rail ticket are set out in the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT). The NRCoT apply on rail replacement services as for other train services, including the entitlement to compensation for any delayed journey, which is based on the advertised timetable. There is no specific entitlement to compensation relating to journeys involving the use of a rail replacement bus which run to the advertised timetable. Wherever engineering work is planned in advance, the train company or retailer will make passengers aware of any need to use a rail replacement service, including any altered times in timetable information, so that they may make an informed decision about their travel plans. If the replacement is at short notice, and the person wishing to travel cannot complete their journey because the company is unable to transport their luggage, articles, animals and/or cycles by road vehicle, and they therefore decide not to travel, they are entitled to claim a refund without any administration charge.

Roads: Capital Investment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 6 of the Office of Rail and Road's Update on Highways England's capital planning and asset management, published on 2 February 2017, whether Highways England's revised capital baseline plan for Road Investment Strategy 1 has been approved by his Department.

Jesse Norman: The Department have been working closely with Highways England and the Office of Rail and Road regarding Highways England’s plans to ensure successful delivery of the Road Investment Strategy.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release, Government publishes £1.2 billion plans to increase cycling and walking, published on 21 April 21017, what proportion of the £1.2 billion funding referred to in that press release had not been allocated to walking and cycling prior to April 2017.

Jesse Norman: The £1.2 billion referred to in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy press release confirmed the amount of existing Government funding that is available to be invested in cycling and walking over the five year period from 2016/17 to 2020/21. This represents a clear Government commitment to sustained investment in cycling and walking. Alongside the £1.2 billion, additional funding has been announced, including £5 million for improving cycling facilities at railway stations; £1 million of funding for a Walk to School project and £1 million for Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival scheme, providing free bike maintenance and cycle classes. Central government is also providing a programme of practical support to local authorities to help them to produce high quality Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans which can support the strategic economic case for cycling and walking investment.

Level Crossings and Taxis

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress his Department has made on preparing legislation in response to the recommendations made in the Law Commission's reports on (a) Level Crossings, published on 25 September 2013, and (b) Taxi and Private Hire Services, published on 23 May 2014.

Paul Maynard: The Department expects to make an announcement shortly on its proposed next steps in relation to the Law Commission’s report on level crossings. It is currently considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report on taxi and private hire regulation in England and Wales against the backdrop of a rapidly changing industry and will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.

Highways England: Staff

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are employed in Highways England's Capital Portfolio Management team on a headcount and FTE basis; and how many vacancies there are in that team currently.

Jesse Norman: As at 30/06/2017 Highways England have a total of 37 people employed within the Capital Portfolio Management team. On an FTE basis there are 34, rounded down from 34.2. There are currently 4 live vacancies for the Capital Portfolio Management team.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total (a) revenue and (b) capital expenditure on HS2 has been in each year from 2009-10 from (i) his Department, (ii) HS2 Ltd and (iii) Network Rail.

Paul Maynard: In the six years between 2009/10 and 2015/16 the Government spent around £1.4bn on delivering the HS2 programme. This is made up of the costs incurred by HS2 Ltd and expenditure on land and property. HS2 Ltd expenditure includes payments made to Network Rail. The Department for Transport also spent around £70m on internal resource costs, including staff and technical support. The table below sets out HS2 expenditure by year:   2009/10 £m2010/11 £m2011/12 £m2012/13 £m2013/14 £m2014/15 £m2015/16 £mHS2 LtdResource9.414.633.9176.4208.433.134.4 Capital0.030.10.48.12.1156.5318.5Land & PropertyCapital 9.619.723.1105.3174.9113.2DfTResource  1.75.614.720.926.5Total 9.4324.355.7213.2330.5385.4492.6 For the purposes of this response, “revenue” has been interpreted as meaning “resource expenditure”. Figures for 2016-17 will be available later in the summer as part of the HS2 Ltd Accounts. Due to the configuration of the HS2 Ltd accounting system, it would be disproportionately costly to disaggregate NR costs from HS2 Ltd total expenditure.

Taxis: Migrant Workers

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's policy is on whether licensed private hire vehicle drivers are required to pass a test in English as a condition of holding a licence.

Mr John Hayes: The legislation that provides for licensing of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) services is enabling in its nature, giving licensing authorities the discretion to set standards that they deem to be appropriate including language skills. To which end the Department’s current best practice guidance to licensing authorities states that they “may also wish to consider whether an applicant for a taxi or PHV driver licence would have any problems in communicating with customers because of language difficulties.”

Home Office

Asylum

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the effectiveness of systems of integration for asylum seekers and refugees ensuring that all those granted refugee status have the best possible opportunity for integration.

Brandon Lewis: We are working towards achieving more integrated communities and creating the conditions for everyone to live and work successfully alongside one another. This includes those who are recognised as refugees or granted Humanitarian Protection.On 5 December 2016, Dame Louise Casey published her independent review of how to boost opportunity and integration in isolated and deprived communities. The Government will bring forward plans for tackling these issues in the coming months through a new integration strategy.Those who are granted refugee status are given access to the labour market and benefits, and are encouraged to access organisations that can assist with integration. Each local authority region has a strategic migration partnership that provides coordination and support services for those organisations working with migrants. The Home Office also provides a dedicated integration loan directly to recognised refugees. The loan is designed to help refugees integrate into UK society by offering financial support towards housing costs, employment and training.

UN Convention on the Status of Refugees

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with other parties to the UN Convention on Refugees on reforming the Convention to improve its response to the global refugee crisis; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and the Home Office regularly discuss refugee issues with our counterparts. We are committed to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. Across Government, we engage comprehensively with partners on the response to the refugee crisis.We aim to support refugees as close to their homes as possible, to avoid dangerous journeys and enable returns in due course. We provide development and humanitarian assistance to refugees and the communities which host them. We have pledged £2.46 billion for Syria, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.Our resettlement programmes are focussed on the most vulnerable; we have committed to resettle 23,000 under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children Resettlement Schemes. We are working with partners, including the UNHCR, on taking forward the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework established by the New York Declaration last September and are fully engaged in the negotiations on a UN Refugee Compact.

Emergency Services: Training

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to provide additional training for the emergency services to respond to fires following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Mr Nick Hurd: Training is a pivotal part of any emergency service role. In the case of fire, it is the responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities to ensure that continuous training is in place to maintain professional competency and to meet operational requirements including responding to major events such as the Grenfell Tower fire.The Government is funding the Joint Emergency Interoperability Service Programme (JESIP). Part of its work has included the largest and most successful joint training initiative across the emergency services. It has also introduced a new national system for joint organisational learning to assist in improving the way in which the emergency services identify learning from incidents and exercises, and implement positive change to front line services.The College of Policing sets the standards of professional practice and training for policing and also run the Multi Agency Gold Incident Command course which is open to leaders from different sectors including fire and local authorities.

Driving under Influence

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken is to analyse (a) blood and (b) urine samples for (i) drug-related and (ii) alcohol-related driving offences.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold this information. The enforcement of drug and alcohol-related driving offences are operational matters for the police.

Housing: Fires

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have died as a result of fires in (a) bungalows, (b) semi-detached houses, (c) detached houses, (d) houses in multiple occupation, (e) low-rise flats and (f) high-rise flats in each year for which data is available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The number of fire-related fatalities in England in purpose built high (defined in this publication as 10 storeys or more), medium (4 to 9 stories) and low rise flats (1 to 3 storeys) can be found in the Home Office’s Fires in purpose-built flats, England April 2009 to March 2017 ad hoc publication.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/622114/fires-in-purpose-built-flats-england-april-2009-to-march-2017.pdf

Offences against Children

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a duty on persons in regulated professions to notify the police about possible victims of child sexual abuse.

Sarah Newton: The previous Government launched a consultation on reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect on 21 July 2016. This sought views on the introduction of possible new measures including a mandatory reporting duty or a duty to act. The consultation closed on 13 October 2016. The Government has reviewed the consultation responses and will publish its response in due course.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police and crime commissioners are required to publish an annual Police, Crime and Victims plan.

Mr Nick Hurd: Police and Crime Plans are an important strategic planning tool for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and were introduced as a statutory requirement for commissioners as part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. Section 5 of that Act stipulates that a PCC must issue a new Police and Crime plan as soon as practicable after taking office – a commissioner may also vary an existing plan or issue a new one at any time, the frequency with which this is done is determined on the basis of local need.Alongside this, section 7 of that Act requires PCCs to set out the victims’ services that are planned for the rest of the period that the PCC will hold office in their police and crime plan. PCCs are also required to produce an annual report at the end of each financial year to provide the public with an update on the progress which has been made in meeting the police and crime objectives contained within the plan and the victims and witness services that have been commissioned and provided (section 12 of that Act).

EU Nationals: Immigration

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the Immigration Skills charge to EU citizens when the UK leaves the EU.

Brandon Lewis: The arrangements which will apply to EU nationals seeking to work in the UK following the UK’s exit from the European Union have yet to be determined.

Northumbria Police

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed by Northumbria Police in (a) March 2010 and (b) March 2017.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales

Radicalism: Publications

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to introduce legislation on technology companies preventing the publication of extremist material.

Mr Ben  Wallace: This Government has been clear there should be no safe space online for terrorists and their supporters to radicalise, recruit, incite, or inspire. In March 2017, the Home Secretary held a very positive meeting with industry to discuss online terrorist content. Subsequent to the roundtable, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft made a public commitment to look at options for establishing an industry led forum focused on tackling terrorist and extremist content online.This was formally announced by the companies on 26 June 2016. We continue to work closely with industry to come up with new, innovative ways for tackling terrorist use of the internet but, as the Prime Minister has made clear, we will also explore the possibility of creating legal requirements for communications service providers if they fail to take the necessary action to remove unacceptable content.

War Crimes

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the capacity of the War Crimes Unit and the Home Office to (a) receive and (b) act on complaints from members of the public on alleged war crimes.

Mr Nick Hurd: The investigation and prosecution of individuals suspected of war crimes is an operational matter for the police. Any decision to investigate or prosecute is the responsibility of the police in consultation with Crown Prosecution Service.In particular, the War Crimes Team of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) has national responsibility for the investigation of such offences, including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture; it is their responsibility, accordingly, to determine the recourses necessary to carry out this function.

Animal Experiments

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2017 to Question 70559, on animal experiments, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the public consultation on section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; and if she will place a copy of that response in the Library.

Mr Ben  Wallace: I intend to publish the response in due course.

Hassan Yousef

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the case of Yousef Hassan.

Brandon Lewis: We do not comment on individual cases

Immigration

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate the Government has made of the cost of implementation of the proposal set out in Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017.

Brandon Lewis: As with other areas of the immigration system, we aim to keep costs to the taxpayer to a minimum by charging applicants a fee.We recognise the cost of the new settled status application will be important for EU citizens, and intend to set fees at a reasonable level. Delivery options will be subject to negotiation with the EU so it is not currently possible to provide an estimate of the cost to the public purse.

Visas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 20 March 2017 to Question 67822, whether her Department plans to develop a version of the visa data which is suitable for publication.

Brandon Lewis: There are no plans to develop and publish such data. The latest quarterly Immigration Statistics (which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics) indicate that there were over 400,000 refusals of entry clearance visas in the calendar year 2016 and each refusal may be for multiple reasons, specific to individual cases.

Eurojust

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of human trafficking Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential loss of access to Eurojust after the UK leaves the EU on the Government's ability to tackle VAT fraud.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of loss of access to Eurojust after the UK leaves the EU on the Government's ability to tackle drug trafficking.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of loss of access to Eurojust after the UK leaves the EU on private and non-profit sectors who use that organisation's services.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many organised property crime cases committed by mobile organised crime groups Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many terrorism cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many organised property crime cases committed by mobile organised crime groups that Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cybercrime cases Eurojust supported the Government in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many human trafficking cases Eurojust supported the Government in investigating were (a) in and (b) outside the UK in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fraud cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many VAT fraud cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fraud cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cybercrime cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drug trafficking cases Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: In a modern, interconnected world, crime is increasingly international and does not respect borders. The Government is clear that effective cooperation with EU Member States on security, justice and policing in order to tackle serious organised crime will continue to be a top UK priority.Eurojust can lead to improved criminal justice outcomes by ensuring that investigators and prosecutors share information and evidence, agree strategies and co-ordinate activity in order to tackle cross-border criminality in a more efficient and effective manner.The Government values the role of Eurojust and that is why Eurojust was one of the measures we rejoined in December 2014 as part of the decision under Protocol (No. 36) to the EU Treaties to opt out of all pre-Lisbon JHA legislation and opt back into 35 key measures.The Prime Minister has made clear that one of the twelve objectives for the negotiations ahead will be to establish a new relationship with the European Union that includes practical arrangements on matters of law enforcement cooperation to tackle cross-border crime and to keep our people safe.We continue to work closely with EU partners and we are examining the options for future cooperation once the UK has left the EU.Statistics on Eurojust’s work are publicly available online at the below link:http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/doclibrary/corporate/Pages/annual-reports.aspx

Eurojust

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drug VAT fraud cases that Eurojust has supported the Government in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drug trafficking cases that Eurojust has supported the UK in investigating were (a) in the UK, (b) against UK citizens abroad and (c) against UK interests in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many terrorism cases Eurojust has supported the UK in investigating in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the Government has placed an urgent request for judicial cooperation with Eurojust on terrorism-related cases in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the potential effect of loss of access to the European Judicial Cybercrime Network after the UK has left the EU.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of loss of access to Eurojust after the UK leaves the EU on tackling human trafficking.

Brandon Lewis: In a modern, interconnected world, crime is increasingly international and does not respect borders. The Government is clear that effective cooperation with EU Member States on security, justice and policing in order to tackle serious organised crime will continue to be a top UK priority.Eurojust can lead to improved criminal justice outcomes by ensuring that investigators and prosecutors share information and evidence, agree strategies and co-ordinate activity in order to tackle cross-border criminality in a more efficient and effective manner.The Government values the role of Eurojust and that is why Eurojust was one of the measures we rejoined in December 2014 as part of the decision under Protocol (No. 36) to the EU Treaties to opt out of all pre-Lisbon JHA legislation and opt back into 35 key measures.The Prime Minister has made clear that one of the twelve objectives for the negotiations ahead will be to establish a new relationship with the European Union that includes practical arrangements on matters of law enforcement cooperation to tackle cross-border crime and to keep our people safe.We continue to work closely with EU partners and we are examining the options for future cooperation once the UK has left the EU.Statistics on Eurojust’s work are publicly available online at the below link:http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/doclibrary/corporate/Pages/annual-reports.aspx

Immigration: EU Nationals

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU nationals will be required to (a) provide biometric data and (b) hold an identity card in order to acquire settled status in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Secretary laid before the House a paper on 26 June 2017, which outlines our offer for EU citizens. Qualifying EU citizens will have to apply for residence documentation. Our aim is to make the application process as streamlined and user-friendly as possible for EU citizens and their families lawfully resident in the UK.

Immigration Controls: France

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on maintaining the Le Touquet agreement in its current form.

Brandon Lewis: The bilateral agreements underpinning our juxtaposed controls on rail and ferry services are not directly affected by Britain’s membership of the EU and we are committed to working together with France to protect our shared border and to maintain the juxtaposed controls arrangements.The French Government has previously made it clear that removing the juxtaposed controls would not be in the interests of France. Our bilateral relation on Calais and Le Touquet remains strong and practical cooperation continues.We will continue to work closely with the French Government on measures to further bolster security at our juxtaposed ports in northern France and to maintain the Le Touquet arrangement.

Fire and Rescue Services

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how she plans to consult local (a) residents, (b) councils and (c) hon. Members in assessing the business case for a Police and Crime Commissioner to take over responsibility for Fire and Rescue Services in the local area.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is for directly elected PCCs to decide whether to bring forward a proposal to take on responsibility for their local fire and rescue service, demonstrating how to do so would be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or public safety. Where it appears to the Secretary of State that these tests have been met, the necessary secondary legislation will be drafted and laid in the House.Before submitting a proposal, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, requires PCCs to consult each relevant local authority, people in their local police force area and those appearing to represent employees and members of the police force who may be affected by the proposal.

Fire and Rescue Services

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants have been allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners  to investigate taking over responsibility for Fire and Rescue services; which authorities have received that grant; and how the level of that grant was determined.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has awarded £1 million from the Police Transformation Fund to nine police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for their work in developing proposals to take on the additional responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue in their area. It follows a police-led process which saw a competitive bidding round, and funding recommendations made by the Police Reform and Transformation Board.The PCCs who will receive funds are Sussex, West Mercia, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and North Yorkshire. Details were published below:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-funds-pccs-to-support-further-police-and-fire-collaborationhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-transformation-fund-successful-bids-2016-to-2017

Fire and Rescue Services

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provisions will be made to compensate county and unitary councils who suffer a financial loss as a result of Fire and Rescue Services being transferred to Police and Crime Commissioners; and how much has been made available for that compensation.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables PCCs to take on responsibility for local fire and rescue services where a local case is made.It is for individual PCCs to consider whether to bring forward such a proposal. The Secretary of State will only give effect to the proposal where it appears, in her view, to be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness or public safety to do so.It is expected that a PCCs proposal will take account of transition costs, the impact on existing collaborations and where the fire and rescue authority is integrated within a local authority, the impact on wider council functions.

Police Stations

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to retain front desk services in police stations; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is a local decision for Police and Crime Commissioners, working with Chief Constables, to determine the composition and size of their workforce and estates, and the methods by which they maintain contact with the public.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications from EU nationals seeking permanent residency in the UK are currently being processed; and how many have been processed in each month since January 2016.

Brandon Lewis: Currently all EEA applications, including those for permanent residency and for other residence documentation under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, are being considered within the published service standards. Statistics on applications for permanent residence for European Economic Area (EEA) nationals are published quarterly in the Immigration Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-january-to-march-2017 The Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464), which was laid before Parliament on 26 June, sets out our proposals that European Union (EU) citizens who arrive in the UK before the specified date and have five years’ continuous residence in the UK will be able to apply for UK settled status. We will publish further detail on the specifics of the new application process for settled status in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of UK Visa and Immigration staff were employed to process EU casework in each month since January 2017.

Brandon Lewis: UK Visas and Immigration operate flexible staffing resources and deploy staff in line with demands on the service.UKVI have implemented a number of measures to deal with increased application intake, including the deployment of staff from other parts of the Home Office and recruitment of additional Agency and Permanent staff.

Refugees: Children

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from France to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from Greece to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from Italy to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff of her Department were seconded to (a) France, (b) Italy and (c) Greece to facilitate the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on resuming the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from France under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Brandon Lewis: In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.

Antisocial Behaviour: Vehicles

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of anti-social behaviour connected with (a) off-road bicycles, (b) quad bikes and (c) mopeds there were in each police authority area in each of the last three years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects data on the number of anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police forces in England Wales. It is not possible to tell from these data how many incidents related to vehicles or the type of vehicle involved.Anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and can be found here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesbulletintables

Criminal Investigation: Manchester Arena

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional financial support her Department is providing to Greater Manchester Police to meet the costs resulting from the investigation into the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Greater Manchester Police has indicated that they will be making a Special Grant claim in relation to the additional policing costs incurred as a result of the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena. Once this has been received, Ministers will consider it carefully and respond as soon as practicable.We know that the recent horrific attacks have put pressure on the police across the country. We are already working closely with policing, to help manage the cost of the immediate response.We also have a constructive dialogue with policing to ensure that the right powers, capabilities and resources are in place.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises since its creation.

Margot James: From our records, of those contracts put out to tender since the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, there are (a) six charities and (b) zero social enterprises which have been awarded contracts.

Regulation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's correspondence with the Red Tape Challenge project since that project's inception.

Margot James: The Cabinet Office-led Red Tape Challenge programme ran from 2011 to 2015. This preceded the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which was formed following the merger of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).There were 29 themes under the Red Tape Challenge, with at least 8 reviews looking at some aspect of what is now a BEIS policy area.The reviews were undertaken in close cooperation with the appropriate Government Departments. Both BIS and DECC, where relevant, published responses to the reviews. Full details of the themes, Departments responses, and actions taken in each theme can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Borough Market and London Bridge

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what compensation and other support his Department is making available to businesses affected by the recent terror attack at Borough Market and London Bridge.

Margot James: My officials have remained in close contact with the Mayor’s Office and Southwark Council to ensure that public agencies are pulling together to respond to the recent terrible events at Borough Market and London Bridge.I welcome the Mayor’s announcement on Thursday, 29 June of a new £300,000 fund to help businesses to recover from these attacks, as well as the attack at Finsbury Park Mosque and the Grenfell Tower fire. Government is considering what more support may be needed to address the impact of these events on businesses.Support is already available for affected businesses through the standard business support services offered by Growth Hubs, including the London Growth Hub and the many local agencies supporting businesses on the ground.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: EU Law

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many new EU directives relating to his Department's responsibilities are awaiting translation into UK law.

Margot James: Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.There are 10 Directives that are the responsibility of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy which are awaiting transposition into UK law as of 29th June.Government policy, based on legal assessment, remains to ensure full compliance with EU legal requirements until the UK leaves the EU. This includes transposition of EU directives.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: EU Law

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many new EU directives relating to his Department's responsibilities are in negotiation in the EU.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy negotiates on behalf of the UK in respect to EU legislation covering single market, energy, consumer rights, labour markets, research and innovation.The Department provides Explanatory Memoranda to Parliament, on proposals defined by the terms of reference of the parliamentary EU scrutiny committees, which can be found online.

Carbon Emissions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how he plans to ensure that carbon emissions continue to fall in line with the commitment to reduce emissions by 57 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carbon Emissions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Committee on Climate Change report, Meeting Carbon Budgets: Closing the policy gap, published in June 2017, what assessment he has made of the implications of rising carbon emissions from transport and building stock since 2012 on his department's policy to reduce carbon emissions.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on offering financial support to households that are not fuel-poor to make their homes more energy-efficient in 2017-18; and if  he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of offering such support to the UK's ability to meet its commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hinkley Point C Power Station: Compensation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the total compensation payable to the NNB Generation Company in the event of the shutdown of the Hinkley Point C project due to the existing Secretary of State Investor Agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tidal Lagoons Independent Review

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for his Department to complete its assessment of the recommendations in the Hendry Review on the role of tidal lagoons, published in December 2016.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Sector: Procurement

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his oral contribution of 27 June 2017, Official Report, column 459, if he will place in the Library a copy of the procurement guidelines referred to.

Margot James: The Government publishes its procurement guidance on the Gov.UK website. In particular the ‘Procurement Policy Note 09/16 sets out a balanced scorecard approach which enables procurers to balance straightforward matters such as cost against more complex issues such as social and wider economic considerations.This can be found at the following link: PPN 09/16

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israeli Settlements: UN Resolutions

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to implement the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Alistair Burt: It has long been our position that Israeli settlement activity is illegal and undermines the viability of two states for two peoples, but it is far from the only obstacle to peace. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 addresses settlements while also calling for an end to incitement and terror. The resolution was passed on 23 December and asks the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months on the implementation of its provisions. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Kamal Foroughi

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Iran on the arrest and imprisonment of Kamal Foroughi.

Alistair Burt: I raised the case of Mr Kamal Foroughi in a phone call with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister on 21 June. Our ambassador to Iran also regularly raises Mr Foroughi's case with Iranian authorities and will continue to do so.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Iran on the arrest and imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: ​I raised the case of Mrs Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister on 21 June. Our ambassador to Iran also regularly raises Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with Iranian authorities and will continue to do so.

Andargachew Tsege

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the case of Andargachew Tsege.

Rory Stewart: We have provided significant support to Mr Tsege and his family. We secured Mr Tsege's transfer from solitary confinement to a federal prison and access to a lawyer so he can discuss his legal options. Our Ambassador has visited him on multiple occasions and we remain committed to ensuring his ongoing welfare. Officials visited Mr Tsege most recently on 10 June, when they were able to check on his welfare, discuss his legal access and pass on messages from his family.In addition, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary raised Mr Tsege's case with Ethiopia's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on 11 May during the London Somalia Conference. Our Ambassador takes every opportunity to raise Mr Tsege's case at the highest levels with the Ethiopian government.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Minister has responsibility for the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for the Commonwealth and the UN has lead responsibility for the British Indian Ocean Territory.

British Indian Ocean Territory: UN Resolutions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has with the UK Ambassador to the UN regarding the UN vote on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: Ministers and officials have discussed the question of the UN vote regularly. Those discussions, where appropriate, have included our Permanent Representative to the UN. The UK has no doubts about our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory. In my Written Statement of 26 June, I made clear that this is an inappropriate use of the International Court of Justice advisory mechanism and should be resolved bilaterally between the UK and Mauritius.

British Indian Ocean Territory: UN Resolutions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Mauritian counterpart on the UN vote on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister with responsibility for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), met Sir Anerood Jugnauth (Mauritian Minister Mentor, Minister for Defence and Minister for Rodrigues) in New York on 19 June to discuss the Territory.

British Indian Ocean Territory: UN Resolutions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has with his American counterpart on the UN vote on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary has discussed the UN vote with his US counterpart on several occasions, most recently on 25 June.

British Indian Ocean Territory: UN Resolutions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts from (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy and (d) Spain on the recent UN vote on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK made representations in advance to countries taking part in the UN General Assembly debate and made our case again on the UN General Assembly plenary floor.

Ilois: Resettlement

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the resettlement of Chagossians to the Chagos Islands.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​On 16 November 2016, the Government announced its decision not to support the resettlement of Chagossians to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) on the grounds of feasibility, defence and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer. At the same time the Government announced a support package worth approximately £40million over ten years, the vast majority of which is intended to provide Chagossians in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles with better life chances in the communities in which they currently live. As part of the package, the Government is also implementing an increased programme of heritage visits to BIOT. The next heritage visit by Chagossians is planned for later this year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Departmental Responsibilities

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of their time new joint Department for International Development and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers will spend at the FCO.

Sir Alan Duncan: Mr Burt and Mr Stewart will split their time between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. They will of course prioritise based on events and issues as they arise.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises in each year since 2010.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's contract databases do not hold this information. Accordingly, providing the number of contracts awarded to charities and social enterprises could only be completed at disproportionate cost.

USA: Climate Change Convention

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had with counterparts in the US on the effect of President Trump's decision to remove the US from the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary discussed President Trump’s announcement on US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement with Secretary Tillerson on 6 June, and officials at the British Embassy in Washington have had further discussions with representatives of the US Administration. We have made clear our disappointment with the decision, and reiterated the UK’s continued commitment to the Paris Agreement as the right global framework for protecting the prosperity and security of future generations, while keeping energy affordable and secure for our citizens and businesses. We will continue to draw on our longstanding, strong and special relationship with the US to encourage them to show leadership on reducing carbon emissions.

European Free Trade Association

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent meetings he has had with the secretariat of the European Free Trade Association.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary has had no recent meetings with the secretariat of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Officials occasionally meet the EFTA secretariat in the course of business, as they do the secretariats of similar trade organisations.

Russia: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2017 to Question 71400, whether the continued persecution of LGBT people in (a) Chechnya and (b) other parts of Russia was raised at the June 2017 session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK raised our concerns over the continued persecution of the LGBT community in Chechnya at the 35th Session of the UN Human Rights Council through our national statements during the ‘Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions’ on 6 June, and under ‘Item 4’ (‘Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention’) on 15 June. We continue to raise the wider issue of LGBT rights across Russia directly with the Russian authorities through bilateral channels and in multilateral fora.

Syria: Chemical Weapons

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of attacks involving the use of chemical weapons, including chlorine gas, by any party to the conflict in Syria since 4 April 2017; and what assessment he has made of any such reports.

Boris Johnson: Allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria have continued, mostly alleging use of chlorine by the regime. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' (OPCW) Fact Finding Mission looks at such allegations to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to investigate, and if so to determine whether chemical weapons were used. We condemn all use of chemical weapons and continue to work with partners to ensure credible allegations are investigated. We welcome the latest report of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission of 29 June, confirming the use of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April, as an important step in holding to account those responsible.

Syria: Chemical Weapons

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US on a potential military response to another attack by Syrian Government forces in which chemical weapons are used; what plans the Government has to participate in any potential military actions carried out by the US against the Syrian Government in response to such an attack; and if he will make a statement.

Boris Johnson: We share the strong international concern about chemical weapons use in Syria and regularly discuss the international response at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN, as well as bilaterally, with key partners including the US. We fully supported the US action on 7 April as an appropriate response to the use of sarin nerve gas by the Asad regime against Khan Sheikhoun. As the Secretary of State for Defence said on 27 June, the Government would support similar US action in the future. It is important that the international community does all it can to deter further chemical weapons attacks. As I said in my statement on 30 June following the OPCW's confirmation that sarin was used in the Khan Sheikhoun attack, I urge our partners to unite behind the need to hold those responsible for this atrocity to account.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the UN Human Rights Council Resolution to establish an international investigation into violence and human rights violations in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rory Stewart: On 23 June the UN Human Rights Council agreed by consensus to establish an international investigation into the violence and human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in the Kasai regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The text of the resolution establishing the investigation states that it should be carried out “in accordance with international standards and practice”, which will ensure that the investigation is impartial and independent. During the negotiations the UK worked closely with other members of the Human Rights Council to ensure that a consensus could be found that both ensured the independence of the investigation and recognised the importance of national investigations into the violence.

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2017 to Question 71623, what voluntary financial contributions the Government plans to make to the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons Syria Trust Fund in the financial year 2017-18.

Boris Johnson: The Government plans to make a voluntary financial contribution of at least £50,000 to the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria. We also plan to make a contribution to the funding of the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism.

Northern Ireland Office

Election Offences: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what information he has received on instances of voter fraud in the 2017 General Election; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: Cases of suspected electoral fraud are an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer who has referred a small number of cases relating to the Parliamentary general election to the PSNI for investigation. Any allegations of suspected malpractice should be reported to the PSNI and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

Department for Exiting the European Union

UK Trade with EU: Scotland

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will implement the proposals set out by the Scottish Government in Scotland's place in Europe on the UK's continued membership of the single market or on a differentiated deal for Scotland.

Mr Steve Baker: We worked closely with the Scottish Government to consider their proposals, but there are clear barriers to making them a reality. The proposals could lead to the creation of new barriers to trade within our Union. There is a better way to achieve the objectives we have in common.The Prime Minister has set out her intention to seek a deep and special partnership with the EU taking in both economic and security cooperation. We will secure a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom - for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and all parts of England.

Brexit: Treaties

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many treaties are required to be renegotiated as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: Many of the UK’s relationships with non-EU partners and international organisations rest in some way on our membership of the EU.The UK will seek to maintain the relationships and cooperation it currently enjoys with non-EU partners and international organisations as it exits the EU. Our priority is to ensure continuity, and we recognise the need to promote stability for business and individuals.We are currently conducting a detailed assessment of the agreements which will require replacement as a result of the UK’s exit from the UK and taking forward work with partners to do so.

European Medicines Agency

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the annual value to the economy from the European Medicines Agency having been located in London in each of the last five years.

Mr Steve Baker: We recognise the important role that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) plays in the protection of human and animal health.In the negotiations the Government will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in the field of medicines regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU.We have a world class research base and world beating universities and businesses that mean the UK life sciences will continue to thrive. As shown by the recent investment decisions by GSK, Alnylam and Novo Nordisk, the UK remains open for business. It is in the interests of the UK and EU to secure a mutually beneficial agreement for business and citizens across Europe.

EU Institutions

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his priorities are during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU on the UK's future relationship with (a) the European Chemicals Agency and (b) the European Maritime Safety Agency.

Mr Robin Walker: As part of the exit negotiations the Government will discuss with the EU and member states how best to continue cooperation in the maritime and chemicals sectors in the best interests of both the UK and EU. Our relationship with the European Union's bodies upon exit will be evaluated in light of delivering the twelve objectives outlined by the Prime Minister in her Lancaster House speech on 17 January to achieve a deep and special partnership between the UK and the European Union.We are working closely with colleagues across government to make sure that we have a regular dialogue with the maritime and chemicals sectors.

Domestic Visits: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with businesses, elected representatives and other organisations from the North East since his Department was established; and what visits Ministers and officials have made to the North East.

Mr Steve Baker: We have pursued a wide-ranging programme of engagement since the Department was created in order to build a national consensus around our negotiating position.We are speaking to a significant number of organisations and individuals, including those in the North East, to establish their priorities and understand their concerns.Details of Ministerial and senior official meetings will be published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Business: Scotland

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has to meet Northern local authority and business leaders to discuss the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: DExEU and DCLG are working closely with the Local Government Association and regional partners across the country to understand clearly issues related to exit and identify any regional implications. In addition, the Government is engaging extensively with businesses across all parts of the UK, and intends to continue this work throughout the exit process.Details of Ministerial meetings will be published in the Department's Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the total cost to the public purse was of the (a) High Court case and (b) Supreme Court appeal on Article 50.

Mr Steve Baker: Details of the costs associated with the Article 50 case will be published in due course.

Department for Education

Schools: Fire Extinguishers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make it a requirement that all schools are fitted with sprinkler systems for fire safety; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Alongside the rest of Government, we will take forward any findings from the public inquiry and ensure any recommendations for schools are implemented. All schools must comply with strict building and fire safety regulations. It has always been the case that sprinklers are installed in new school buildings if a risk assessment identifies them as necessary or if they are required under a local planning policy. There are no plans whatsoever to introduce any changes that would make fire safety laws for schools less strict.

Vocational Education

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on introducing a UCAS-style portal for technical education.

Anne Milton: My Department wants to make sure that English technical education rivals the best in the world.My Department is exploring policy options that enable technical education students to receive clear information and gives them better support throughout the application process. This will make it easier for students to compare technical and academic options

Classroom Assistants: Apprentices

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on teaching assistants becoming qualified teachers through a degree apprenticeship.

Anne Milton: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 03 July 2017.The correct answer should have been:

The Government is committed to building a stronger and more prosperous Britain for all. Developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship, that protects the professional status of teaching, will be an effective way of upskilling those individuals with a passion for teaching, such as teaching assistants. We will work with the sector in progressing this work, with employers at the heart of the route’s development. The Government is developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship, that protects the professional status of teaching and will be an effective way of upskilling those individuals with a passion for teaching, such as teaching assistants. We will work with the sector in progressing this work, with employers at the heart of the route’s development.

Anne Milton: The Government is committed to building a stronger and more prosperous Britain for all. Developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship, that protects the professional status of teaching, will be an effective way of upskilling those individuals with a passion for teaching, such as teaching assistants. We will work with the sector in progressing this work, with employers at the heart of the route’s development. The Government is developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship, that protects the professional status of teaching and will be an effective way of upskilling those individuals with a passion for teaching, such as teaching assistants. We will work with the sector in progressing this work, with employers at the heart of the route’s development.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on ensuring that every school has a single point of contact for mental health services.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding her Department plans to make available to ensure that all schools have a single point of contact for mental health services in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21 and (e) 2021-22.

Nick Gibb: Good mental health is a priority for the Department. Mental health issues can have a profound impact on the whole of a child’s life, including their attainment. Schools can play an important role in promoting mental wellbeing and supporting pupils, but teachers are not mental health professionals and knowledge and practice in the mental health field is constantly developing. Action taken by them is best supported by advice from specialist services, as well as by access to treatment for pupils where needed. We are investing an additional £1.4 billion in children’s mental health services in the five years to 2020.Our schools/Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) link joint training pilot, across 225 schools in 27 Clinical Commissioning Groups, identified a range of different models for schools working more closely with single points of contact in specialist mental health services – making use of the additional investment. These resulted in a strengthening of communication and joint working arrangements between schools and specialist services, with quantifiable improvements in understanding of the referral routes amongst school staff – leading in many cases to higher quality and more timely referrals.We will be considering with the Department of Health how best to build on the results of this pilot to improve links between schools, colleges and NHS mental health services as a part of our joint children and young people’s mental health green paper, to be published by the end of the year. We will look at any funding requirements in that context.

Schools: Bassetlaw

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Bassetlaw constituency have (a) asbestos and (b) no fire sprinkler system.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold data centrally on asbestos or sprinkler systems in schools in the Bassetlaw constituency. In March 2016, the Department carried out a data collection exercise, aimed at all schools to help us understand how asbestos is being managed across the country. 25.2% of schools responded, of which 83% indicated that asbestos was present on their school estate. We intend to enhance our understanding of how effectively asbestos is being managed in schools, by asking all responsible bodies to provide a report on their schools’ compliance with associated legislation and guidance. Through this assurance process, responsible bodies can confirm whether asbestos is present in their schools and that they have the necessary processes and procedures in place, in relation to the management of asbestos, to ensure the safety of pupils, staff and visitors to their schools. The Department has contacted all bodies responsible for safety in schools instructing them to carry out checks to identify any buildings which may require further investigation. We are asking that checks are carried out immediately to identify buildings that may require further investigation. This analysis is to establish what, if any, external cladding has been used on these buildings. For these buildings, it will also check that where a fire risk assessment has identified the need to install a sprinkler system, it has been. This exercise will cover school buildings of all ages.

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention figures are for (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: Retention rates for all teachers by phase are not available.Published statistics are available that show the retention rates for newly qualified teachers (not split by phase). The latest information is contained in the following table. It shows around 87 per cent of teachers continue in the profession following their first year of teaching (and this has been the case since 1996). Of the teachers who started teaching in 2011, 69 per cent were still teaching five years later.   Percentage of teachers in regular service in the state-funded schools sector in England after: [1]Year qualified[2]Recorded In service by:[3]Number of newly qualified entrants entering service[4]1 year2 years3 years4 years5 years2011November 201120,60088%83%77%73%69%2012November 201223,00088%81%75%71% 2013November 201323,60087%80%74%  2014November 201424,20087%79%   2015November 201525,50087%2016November 201624,400 These figures are derived from the Database of Teacher Records and November School Workforce Census and are published in table 8 from the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2016’, available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016 [1] The percentage of teachers in service in anyone year will include those who may not have had continuous service to that year. For example, teachers could be in service for 3 consecutive years, miss a year, and then be in service in year 5 onwards after qualifying.[2] Calendar year in which the teachers qualified.[3] Financial year during which the teachers entered service.[4] Newly qualified entrants in year x are defined as all teachers who qualified between November x-1 and November x and were in service in school year x/x+1.

Schools: Fire Hazards

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the extent of the use of flammable cladding in school buildings.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the provision of sprinkler systems in school buildings.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential cost of ensuring that all (a) new school buildings and (b) existing school buildings undergoing substantial refurbishment are fitted with sprinkler systems.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse of fires in school buildings has been in each year from 2010-11 to the most recent year for which data is available.

Nick Gibb: The Department is undertaking an analysis of all school buildings to identify those over 18 metres or four storeys high to establish what, if any, external cladding has been used on these buildings. For these buildings, it will also check that where a fire risk assessment has identified the need to install a sprinkler system, installation has taken place. This exercise will cover school buildings of all ages. Fire risk assessments should be used during the design process to determine whether a sprinkler system is required in a new school building. They may also be required as an integral part of a fire safety design for a school building. The cost of installing sprinklers in an existing building undergoing refurbishment will vary depending on the building’s requirements and characteristics and can only be established on a case-by-case basis. The Department does not collect data on the costs of school fires.

Children: Mental Health

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish its Green Paper on children's mental health.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education is working jointly with the Department of Health on a children and young people’s mental health green paper, which we plan to publish by the end of the year.

Further Education: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional (a) revenue and (b) capital funding her Department plans to invest in further education colleges in (i) 2017-18, (ii) 2018-19, (iii) 2019-20, (iv) 2020-21 and (v) 2021-22.

Anne Milton: I refer to my answer to PQs 529 and 485.Annual breakdowns of funding are not yet available.

Digital Technology: Lifelong Education

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to allocate for delivering lifelong learning in digital skills in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21 and (e) 2021-22.

Anne Milton: The government wants to make sure that, where learners have a place to study for a relevant basic digital skills qualification, it will be free of charge. Once introduced, this support will be available for adults aged 19 and over in England who are considered to lack basic digital skills. Funding will be provided via the Adult Education Budget.

Breakfast Clubs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to schools of introducing universal free school breakfasts.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the honourable member to my answer to question 632.

Grammar Schools

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on grammar schools.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Secretary of State provided on 27 June to Question number 128.

English Baccalaureate

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils in England were entered for the EBacc combination of subjects during the 2015-16 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The proportion of pupils at the end of Key Stage 41, in state funded schools2 in England, who were entered for the English Baccalaureate combination of subjects during the 2015-16 academic year is 39.7 per cent. This data was published as part of the post errata (final) Key stage 4 attainment data update on the school performance tables website.31 Pupils are identified as being at the end of key stage 4 if they were on roll at a school and in year 11 at the time of the January 2016 school census. Age is calculated as at 31 August 2015, and the majority of pupils at the end of key stage 4 were aged 15 at the start of the academic year. Some pupils may complete this key stage in an earlier or later year group.2 State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14- to 16-year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools and alternative provision.3 Figures from 2009/10 – 2014/15 are taken from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2015-to-2016-provisional (“National tables: SFR48/2016” document, table 1b). Figures for 2015/16 are taken from 2015/16 final data published in the download data section of the school performance tables website: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data?currentstep=datatypes&regiontype=all&la=0&downloadYear=2015-2016&datatypes=ks4

Special Educational Needs

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 130 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to ensure that educational institutions identify children with SEND that are at risk of exclusion and provide additional funding from Government for interventions for those children to reduce that risk.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Schools are already funded to support pupils with special education needs (SEN), and we are clear that they should consider whether the needs of pupils with SEN are being met before issuing an exclusion.The statutory guidance, which schools must have regard to when issuing exclusions, sets out that head teachers should consider early intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour, including an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any SEN or disability that a pupil may have. The guidance also sets out that head teachers should make additional efforts to consider what extra support may be required to avoid excluding pupils with special educational needs, and as far as possible, should avoid permanently excluding pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan.Schools are funded through the formula set by their local authority, and local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional cost of supporting pupils with SEN up to £6,000 per annum. The local authority also provides top-up funding for SEN support costs in excess of £6,000.

Schools: Finance

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to bring forward further proposals for a National Funding Formula; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: We published our response to the first stage of our consultation on a national funding formula for schools in December 2016. The response to this consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/schools-national-funding-formula. We are considering the more than 25,000 responses we received to the consultation on the National Funding Formula, and will publish our response in due course.

Children: Day Care

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that children with (a) special needs and (b) disabilities are not excluded from childcare.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to promoting equality and inclusion for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and this is underpinned by clear requirements in the Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the Equality Act.We introduced a new targeted early years Disability Access Fund, worth £12.5 million (£615 per eligible child), as part of the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF) in April 2017. The EYNFF also requires local authorities to set up a Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund to support more strategic use of funding at a local level.To ensure high quality support for children with SEND, our Early Years Workforce Strategy, published March 2017, sets out how we will ensure that staff can access the training and development they need. This includes developing a qualification by 2018 for early years staff who want to specialise in SEND.

Children: Day Care

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that every parent is better off working once they have paid for childcare.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are increasing spending on childcare support to over £6 billion per year by 2019-20, more than any other government. This includes our offer of 15 hours free childcare a week for all three and four-year-olds, as well as more disadvantaged two year olds, which is worth around £2,500 per child per year (for parents using the full 15 hours). We are also helping with up to 85 per cent of childcare costs for working parents on Universal Credit. And we are going further by doubling free childcare, from 15 to 30 hours per week for nearly 400,000 working parents of three and four-year-olds, saving those using the full 30-hour entitlement around £5,000 a year. We are also introducing Tax-Free Childcare, worth up to £2,000 per eligible child per year and up to £4,000 for disabled children.

Church Schools: Admissions

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on the admissions criteria adopted by Catholic state-funded schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not have a separate policy on Catholic state-funded school admissions. All state funded schools are required to comply with the provisions of the School Admissions Code which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2, and the law on admissions (Part III of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998). The Equality Act 2010 permits schools that are designated with a religious character to prioritise faith applicants in their admission policies.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2017 to Question 593, whether there will be additional funding for schools before 2020-21.

Nick Gibb: This Government will continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded.Since 2010 the schools budget has been protected in real terms and is set to rise from £41 billion in 2017-18 to over £42 billion in 2019-20 with increasing pupil numbers.We are committed to set out plans to increase funding further, as well as continuing to protect the Pupil Premium to support those who need it.We will set out our future funding arrangements for schools in due course.

Schools: Non-domestic Rates

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to exempt all schools from business rates.

Nick Gibb: Schools receive funding for rates based on what they actually pay, so if a school’s rates increase, it will receive additional funding to compensate. This has not changed since the business rates revaluation which took effect on 1 April 2017. For maintained schools, local authorities withhold from individual schools’ allocations that portion of their funding to cover their liability to business rates.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the administrative burden on local authorities arising from the Government's 30-hours free childcare policy.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are increasing our annual investment in the free early year’s entitlements by £1 billion per year by 2019-20. This includes over £300 million a year for a significant increase to Government funding rates.We conducted a full public consultation on the delivery model for implementing the expansion of the free childcare entitlement to 30 hours for working parents of 3 and 4 year-olds, and published the Government response in November 2016 at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565668/Government_response_-_30_hours_delivery_consultation.pdf.In March 2017, we published a model agreement, which clearly sets out the Department’s expectations on what should be included in provider agreements for delivery of the free entitlements.We are engaging regularly with local authorities; both directly and through our delivery contractor: Childcare Works, to ensure appropriate awareness of the 30 hour duty, and to support local authorities to deliver 30 hours.We will continue to work closely with local authorities to implement the changes required for the 30 hours free childcare entitlement.

Ministry of Justice

Driving under Influence

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drivers who had been arrested for being under the influence of (a) drugs and (b) alcohol were later convicted of (i) seriously injuring and (ii) killing another person in a further road traffic accident before their license was revoked in each year for which data is available.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drivers were convicted for (a) killing and (b) seriously injuring other road users whilst under the influence of (i) alcohol and (ii) illegal drugs in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab: Information about drivers who have been arrested for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and later convicted for causing death or serious injury, and information about whether an offender convicted for causing death or serious injury was under the influence of drink or drugs at the time of a driving offence is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Data on the number of offenders convicted for drink or drug driving offences, and the specific offence of ‘causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs’ is available in the motoring data tool in the annual criminal justice statistics publication, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2016

Crimes of Violence

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mandatory training on working with victims of sexual and domestic abuse is undertaken by (a) the judiciary, (b) the police and (c) probation staff.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Responsibility for the training of judges and magistrates is the responsibility of the Lord Chief Justice. There has been comprehensive training across both the family and criminal jurisdictions for both judges and magistrates who hear cases involving both sexual and domestic abuse. The Judge’s role is to ensure a fair trial takes place and that all parties are able to give their best evidence. To that end special measures can be used in court in order to assist those with any vulnerabilities. Training includes learning about the effects of sexual and domestic abuse. All new police recruits receive mandatory training on domestic abuse, rape and sexual offences as part of the National Policing Curriculum. Additional, in-depth training on domestic abuse, developed by the voluntary sector, is being rolled out to forces across the country. Training on child safeguarding and domestic abuse is mandatory for all National Probation Service staff. This includes Victim Liaison Officers who will work directly with victims of domestic and sexual abuse. This consists of separate e-learning on safeguarding and domestic abuse awareness for all staff and a combined classroom based component for practitioners and their line managers. The learning highlights that many offenders may be victims of domestic abuse and draws the learner’s attention to reflect this in their work, considering referrals to other agencies as appropriate. Training must be repeated every three years to ensure knowledge and skills are kept up to date.

Rape: Trials

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he will reform ground rules hearings to exclude the cross-examination of victims in rape trials about their sexual histories.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Section 41 regulates the admissibility of evidence or questions relating to a complainant’s sexual history. Applications to admit evidence or questions must be made in writing no later than 28 days after full prosecution disclosure and specify the particulars of the evidence or questions. If the Court allows the application, it must specify the scope of questioning or evidence permitted. A ground rules hearing is not required to do so, but may provide the forum for this process. The Attorney General and the previous Justice Secretary commissioned a review of how section 41 is operating in practice. Ministers will consider the findings shortly.

Sexual Offences: Trials

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what special measures are available for victims involved in sexual assault or rape proceedings.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There are a range of special measures in place for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses in criminal justice proceedings. Complainants of sexual offences are eligible for special measures as ‘intimidated witnesses’ but they may also be eligible as ‘vulnerable witnesses’ if they are under 18 or lacking in capacity. The measures available for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses include the power for a court to order arrangements for live video links, video recorded evidence in chief, and screens around the witness box. Courts are also able to order that vulnerable victims and witnesses receive assistance with communication, including the use of an intermediary, to help them understand the questions they are being asked and to give their answers accurately. We have partially commenced the provision of pre-recorded cross examination of vulnerable witnesses in 3 crown court centres. This partial commencement will be extended to complainants in sexual and modern slavery offences for cases starting in September 2017.

Sexual Offences: Trials

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether judges hearing trials involving rape or serious sexual assault are required to attend a course accredited by the Judicial College before the commencement of proceedings.

Dominic Raab: The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for the training of the judiciary.Judges will only be listed to hear trials involving rape or serious sexual assault if they have been authorised and trained accordingly.All Circuit Judges and Recorders who hear such cases in the Crown Court must be authorised to do so by the Senior Presiding Judge, and must then attend a Serious Sexual Offences Seminar (SSOS) provided by the Judicial College, before they can begin hearing such cases.Queen’s Bench High Court Judges in the criminal jurisdiction have an automatic authority to hear such trials, and if they have not previously attended a SSOS they are asked to do so at the earliest opportunity.

Fines: Surcharges

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted offenders were ordered to pay compensation into the Victims' Surcharge Fund in each of the last three years; and how much in total those offenders were ordered to pay.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who were ordered by a court to pay compensation into the Victims' Surcharge Fund in each of the last three years (a) paid in full, (b) paid less than 50 per cent and (c) did not pay at all; and what the total shortfall of such payments was in that period.

Mr Sam Gyimah: All convicted adult offenders are ordered to pay victim surcharge and the amounts individuals are required to pay varies depending on the type of sentence they have imposed for the offence. The total value of victim surcharge imposed in the last three years is:2014/15 – £38,631,4242015/16 – £41,661,9832016/17 – £49,555,981 It is not possible to identify how many individuals were ordered to pay victim surcharge or how many people paid this in full, paid less than 50% or did not pay at all in any specific year without incurring disproportionate costs.

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on a victims law; and if he will make a statement.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on his Department's 12-month review of victims' rights and entitlements announced in January 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: On 18 January, the previous government announced that it would set out a strategy for victims of crime within 12 months, and that it would take the appropriate action to give effect to the strategy. We are also committed to enshrine victims’ entitlements in law, making clear what level of service they should expect from the police, courts and criminal justice system. Now the election has passed further consideration can be given to this work. We will announce further details in due course.

Victims' Commissioner

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to revise the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The role of the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses is defined in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. It is to promote the interests of victims and witnesses, encourage good practice in their treatment, and regularly review the operation of the Code of Practice for Victims. There are no current plans to change the role of the Commissioner as provided by the legislation.

Terrorism: Convictions

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in UK jails were convicted of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000; and how many of those prisoners may be scheduled for release in the next (a) six months, (b) year, (c) three years and (d) five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested is set out in the table below. The statistics relate to England and Wales only. Other jurisdictions are not the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. Table 1: Convicted prison population with their main offence(1) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000; England & Wales, as at 31 March 2017   31-Mar-17  Total33  Table 2: Convicted prison population with their main offence(1) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000, by release date band; England & Wales, as at 31 March 2017 31-Mar-17  Scheduled for release within:   Six months of 31 March 2017 (before 02 October 2017)5  12 months of 31 March 2017 (before 01 April 2018)10  3 years of 31 March 2017 (before 01 April 2020)25  5 years of 31 March 2017 (before 01 April 2022)27  Other(2)6  Notes   (1) If an offender has been imprisoned for multiple offences, the most serious of these is considered to be the main offence (2) This category includes those who:   - Have been convicted but not yet sentenced (and so do not have a scheduled release date)   - Are serving indeterminate sentences (and so by the nature of the sentence do not have a scheduled release date)- Have a scheduled release date after 31 March 2022   Data sources and quality   The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much on average it costs HM Courts and Tribunal Service to administer a First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support Appeal) in respect of personal independence payments.

Dominic Raab: The information requested is not held.

Link Parking

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases brought by Link Parking Ltd against residents were heard in UK courts in each of the last three years.

Dominic Raab: The number of County Court judgments made in relation to cases brought by Link Parking Ltd against UK residents in each of the three years last is shown below:-Calendar YearJudgment201402015142016113  These data are management information and are not subject to the normal standards applying to official statistics.

Prisons: Port Talbot

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on building a new prison in Port Talbot.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We are investing £1.3 billion to reform and modernise the prison estate to replace ageing and ineffective prisons with up to 10,000 modern prison places. On 22 March 2017, the then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced plans for the building of four new prisons in England and Wales, replacing old and overcrowded establishments with new, fit for purpose buildings. This is in addition to our plans to redevelop the sites at the former HMP Wellingborough and at HMP & YOI Glen Parva. The plans include a new prison in Port Talbot in South Wales. The Ministry of Justice intends to apply for planning permission in due course.

Prime Minister

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to her statement of 22 June 2017, on Grenfell Tower, Official Report, column 167, if she will make it her policy that Government Departments use information on those involved, those providing vital information to identify victims or those assisting with the criminal investigation into the fire only for the purposes of providing services and support, including healthcare and accommodation; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. Member to the Oral Statement I gave to the House on 22 June 2017, Official Report, column 166.

Grenfell Tower: Public Inquiries

Catherine West: To ask the Prime Minister, when she expects the public inquiry into the Grenfell Fire to be established.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement I made about the Grenfell Tower Fire on 29 June 2017, HCWS18.

Ministry of Defence

Warships: Shipbuilding

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the publication and implementation of the national shipbuilding strategy.

Harriett Baldwin: The National Shipbuilding Strategy is a matter for the UK Government. We have consulted widely with Industry and the Trades Unions across the UK, including in Scotland. We will engage with the Scottish Government in due course.

Ministry of Defence: Assets

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what land and buildings in Vale of Clwyd constituency his Department has sold in each year for which data is available; and what plans he has to dispose of his Department's land and buildings.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Information on land and buildings sold in each year in the Vale of Clwyd is given below, as announced in the “A Better Defence Estate” strategy in November 2016 which detailed the Department’s disposal plans. “A Better Defence Estate” and the disposals list, which shows current disposals, is available in the Library of the House. Financial YearEstablishment NameParcel Name2003-04Clwyd Volunteer EstatePrestatyn ARC (7 Marine Road)2003-04Clwyd Volunteer EstatePrestatyn ARC (9 Marine Road)2010-11Kinmel Park Training CampKinmel Park Training Camp (Main Site)

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises in each year since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Lebanon: Military Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Lebanon on the provision of weapons and helicopters assistance.

Mark Lancaster: The Lebanon Government have not approached the Ministry of Defence for provision of weapons or helicopter assistance. Any request for military assistance and equipment to support the Lebanon Armed Forces fight against Daesh and other extremist groups in Lebanon is normally directed through the Lebanon Executive Military Committee which is chaired by the Deputy Director of the Lebanese Army and has international representation from the United Nations and key allies

Defence: Industry

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the cooperative involvement UK defence companies and Israeli defence companies have had on mutual assistance and job creation.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship, with nearly £6 billion in bilateral trade last year. The UK is the No. 1 destination for Israeli foreign direct investment ​in Europe, and there are now more than 300 Israeli companies established in the UK.We welcome co-operation which safeguards the UK's national security and promotes our prosperity. However no assessment has been made of the number of jobs that are linked to the cooperative involvement between UK and Israeli defence companies.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of closures of his Department's sites on the local economy, employment and business of where those sites are based.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Decisions to close defence sites are based on an assessment of how best to deliver military capability, rather than on the basis of the impacts on a specific region. We do not make defence decisions to benefit one local economy or industry over another. It is the duty of Government to make sure that the Defence budget is spent wisely, maximising the resources available for the front line and making sure that every pound counts. For sites which are surplus to military requirements the Ministry of Defence will work closely with the Local Authorities and other stakeholders to consider the most appropriate future uses.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with service families and local councils on the proposed closure of over 80 of his Department's sites.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: "A Better Defence Estate" is a military-led review. All military and civilian personnel at sites identified for closure were informed at the time of the announcement through their chain of command. Staff will be kept up to date, through the chain of command, on plans and developments for their sites.The Ministry of Defence is working closely with local councils to seek the best possible future for their sites.

Armed Forces: Food

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of diverting surplus Operational Ration Packs to people who are homeless.

Harriett Baldwin: Work is being undertaken to consider the merits of providing surplus Operational Ration Packs to homeless people while still complying with the Ministry of Defence's gifting policy and current Food Safety legislation.

Armed Forces: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cyber specialists are employed by the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence recognises the importance of cyber specialists in the Armed Forces, and we are significantly growing the number of dedicated cyber experts to deliver cyber operations. This includes the Joint Cyber Reserve Unit, who are experts from industry and academia using world leading skills and experience to provide crucial support to our Armed Forces.In addition, cyber is becoming an essential part of core military training. In January 2018, a dedicated state-of-the-art Defence Cyber School will open at Shrivenham, alongside the UK's Defence Academy; this will bring together all military joint cyber training to make it more efficient, and increase the amount of British troops who can be trained. We do not comment on the detail of our capability as a matter of national security.

Ascension Island: Airports

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with the US Department of Defense on the US air force's refusal to repair the airstrip at Ascension Island before its next scheduled refurbishment in 2019.

Mark Lancaster: The Department of Defense (DOD) remain committed to ongoing repairs and a full resurfacing of the Ascension Island runway. The Ministry of Defence continues to liaise closely with the DOD and the Department of State regarding their plans for interim repair work and a full surface resurfacing programme.

Army: Training

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the (a) total number of available regular training places and (b) number of such places that have been filled at (i) ITC Catterick, (ii) ATC Pirbright, (iii) ATC Winchester, (iv) ATC Harrogate and (v) RMAS in each of the last 24 months, broken down by course.

Mark Lancaster: The intake for Sandhurst Officer Commissioning Courses (CC) over the last 24 months is shown below. Financial Year of StartRegular CCStart of Course UK Officer Cadets Starting2015-16CC153September 20152152015-16CC161January 20161602016-17CC162May 20161702016-17CC163September 20162102016-17CC171January 20171952017-18CC172May 2017210 The maximum capacity of a single Commissioning Course is 270. This figure relates only to course capacity and does not represent the Army’s intake requirement for Officers. Data in the table above have been taken from management information and are single service estimates, not official defence statistics. For Other Ranks further time is required to collate and validate course data. I will write once work is complete and place a copy in the Library of the House.

Ascension Island: Aviation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what effect the suspension of flights to and from Ascension has had on the air bridge between the UK and the Falkland Islands.

Mark Lancaster: Following the suspension of Voyager flights to and from Ascension Island, the South Atlantic airbridge has rerouted through West Africa. The airbridge continues to operate a twice-weekly schedule between the UK and the Falkland Islands.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his estimate is of the number of vehicles that the Warrior Capability and Sustainment Programme is capable of upgrading.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the cost of the Warrior Capability and Sustainment Programme will exceed its current budget; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Army's Warrior fleet (including all variants) stands at 769. The Department's planning assumption is that a number of these will be upgraded under the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP). The number to be upgraded will be decided when the Department makes its investment decision. The WCSP is still in the Demonstration Phase with 11 platforms currently being manufactured which will then undergo rigorous trials. The MOD is currently in commercial discussions about the manufacture contract.

Ascension Island: Airports

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to refurbish the airstrip at Ascension Island.

Mark Lancaster: The United States is responsible for conducting short-term repairs and a long-term resurface of the runway on Ascension Island. We continue to work closely with the US to support the planned refurbishment.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Mothers

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to increase the support available to women after multiple birth pregnancies to assist them back into the workplace.

Damian Hinds: Support is tailored to the individual needs of the claimant.

Poverty

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 16 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to measure and monitor destitution directly through surveys.

Caroline Dinenage: We are aware of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s September 2016 report ‘UK Poverty, Causes, Costs and Solution’ which aimed to set out a long-term strategy for a UK free of poverty. The merits of the recommendation in this report to measure and monitor destitution directly through repeated surveys have been considered with the JRF. It is acknowledged that individuals and families living in non-private households, communal establishments and the homeless are not well captured on surveys currently used to measure household income and poverty. The ONS is currently commissioning, jointly with JRF, a research project to investigate the feasibility of including individuals and families not living in private households (who are currently not covered by traditional household surveys) in estimates of personal well-being, poverty and destitution. We will be interested in the results of this report when it is published (due in early 2018). One of the key benefits of repeating a survey is to build a meaningful time series from the data, with the changes seen over time helping government to understand how policies impact on individuals and families. However, given the difficulty in generating a robust sampling frame for this group, we may not be sure that apparent movements in the destitution measure over time are genuine, rather than driven by random changes in the sample we happen to include between years.

Universal Credit: Zero Hours Contracts

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people engaged on zero-hours contracts who are in receipt of universal credit.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is currently not available.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 5 April 2017 to Question 69486, on housing benefit: young people, how many applications for the housing cost element of universal credit from applicants between the ages of 18 and 25 have been refused; and what the reasons were for those refusals.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not available. Data will become available as this policy area matures.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people from other EU countries were in receipt of (a) unemployment benefit and (b) in-work benefits in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse was of such payments in that period.

Damian Hinds: The nationality and immigration status of claimants is not currently recorded on benefit payment systems. However the Department for Work and Pensions has published some general statistics on working age benefit recipients claiming within 6 months of National Insurance Number (NINO) registration. The information requested can be found in the following report: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/nationality-at-point-of-nino-registration-of-dwp-working-age-benefit-recipients-data-to-feb-2016 Information on expenditure on DWP and HMRC benefits received by EEA nationals can be found in the following reports: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/502129/benefit-expenditure-eea-nationals-ad-hoc-stats.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548156/HMRC_-_Ad_Hoc_Stats_Release_-further_TC_statistics_on_EEA_Nationals_JULY_-_FINAL_23rd_August_2016.pdf

Children: Maintenance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will allow the Child Maintenance Service to use Child Support Agency fraud investigations to inform its work.

Caroline Dinenage: Where a Child Maintenance Service case has been referred to the Financial Investigations Unit we will use any previous Child Support Agency investigation findings as information to inform activity on the case. Evaluations will take place on a case by case basis to understand if historic findings are still relevant and fit with new legislation introduced by the Child Maintenance Service. There are currently no plans to change this process.

Children: Maintenance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision not to transfer Child Support Agency assessments to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) on financial outcomes for CMS users.

Caroline Dinenage: My Department considered the effect of case closure on children and their parents through a public consultation: “Supporting separated families; securing children’s futures” in July 2012. Our response to the consultation was published in November 2013. We have monitored the effects of case closure and the new statutory child maintenance scheme and published a research report on case closure in December 2016. We will continue to monitor the effects as the remaining cases are closed.

Children: Maintenance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to allow the Child Maintenance Service to use Child Support Agency assessments to inform its work.

Caroline Dinenage: Financial information used to calculate a liability within the child maintenance scheme comes directly from HMRC. This is faster and more accurate than relying on the Child Support Agency (CSA) assessment method of self reported income. Variation is available where parents believe there are additional factors that should be taken in to account. Where information held by the CSA is relevant to the likelihood of the liability being paid, for example if the case is subject to enforcement action, the Child Maintenance Service can take this into account when considering the arrangement by which future maintenance should be paid.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Inland Waterways: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many successful prosecutions there have been for the polluting of watercourses in each of the last 10 years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Environmental regulation concerning Wales is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales. This data covers prosecutions for England only and includes offences with a confirmed environmental impact. The Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted 843 water quality offences over the last 10 years. The table below indicates the number of prosecutions for each year.  YearSuccessful Prosecutions2007145200811720091112010113201198201282201354201445201522201642201714*Total843* Year to date Since 2011, Enforcement Undertaking offers are also available to offenders, which are legally binding voluntary agreements and must contain proposals for the restoration of any environmental harm and plans to prevent further offending. The Environment Agency may accept it as an alternative to formal enforcement action such as prosecution.

Microplastics: Animal Welfare

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2017 to Question 69988, whether his Department plans to assess the effects of microplastics on the welfare of non-marine wildlife.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There is a programme of work building on the recommendations from the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into microbeads. Although there is no specific assessment of the impacts on freshwater wildlife planned at this time, this is an area of ongoing interest in the research community more widely. As with any area of emerging research on the natural environment, our scientists keep outputs under review and scan the horizon for emerging issues, including through working with external experts such as the Science Advisory Council and other committees.

Large Goods Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether emissions from a transport refrigeration unit count towards a heavy goods vehicle's compliance with Euro VI standards when entering a charging Clean Air Zone.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Emissions from transport refrigeration units are not included within the European emission standards used for assessing compliance for free entry to charging Clean Air Zones.   Guidance on the operation of Clean Air Zones in England is set out in a Framework published on 5 May this year available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-quality-clean-air-zone-framework-for-england. The Framework encourages local authorities to work with business to reduce pollutant emissions from vehicles, including encouraging the upgrade of refrigeration units on cold chain vehicles to the least polluting options.   The UK Government has been actively involved in developing new legislation for non-road mobile machinery at a European level that covers transport refrigeration units. The new regulation has recently come into effect and has widened the scope such that any new transport refrigeration unit powered by a combustion engine will be subject to strict new emissions limits from 2019.

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last considered a review of sentencing for animal cruelty offences.

George Eustice: The Government keeps maximum penalties under review. This includes sentencing trends, and whether there is any evidence that the courts may be finding their sentencing powers inadequate. Any change in sentencing in one part of the law has to be made consistent across the entire criminal justice system. The Sentencing Council recently updated its guidelines for magistrates. In their revised guideline, the Sentencing Council aims to ensure that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive longer sentences of up to the maximum of 6 months’ imprisonment.

Butterflies: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to preserve natural habitats for butterflies.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In England we have an extensive network of designated sites, many of which protect our most important butterfly habitats, including habitat for rare and scarce species such as the marsh fritillary and large blue. Our agri-environment schemes play a major role in the conservation of butterflies on designated sites and in the wider countryside. The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package in the Countryside Stewardship scheme offers payments to provide habitats and nectar sources for butterflies and bees on farmland.

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to lengthen the maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences.

George Eustice: The Sentencing Council recently updated its guidelines for magistrates. In their revised guideline, the Sentencing Council aims to ensure that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive longer sentences of up to the maximum of 6 months’ imprisonment. The Government keeps maximum penalties under review. This includes sentencing trends, and whether there is any evidence that the courts may be finding their sentencing powers inadequate.

Neonicotinoids

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will maintain the existing moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: As part of the preparation for EU exit, we are considering future arrangements for the regulation of pesticides. Our highest priority will continue to be the protection of people and the environment. The Government remains of the view that decisions on the use of pesticides should be based on a careful scientific assessment of the risks. Pesticides that carry unacceptable risks to pollinators should not be authorised. The Government keeps the developing evidence on neonicotinoids under review, advised by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, but on the basis of current available evidence, we support the existing restrictions.

Ivory: Sales

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to bring forward a timetable for the consultation on a ban on the sale of ivory dated after 1947.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Any Government proposals on further UK restrictions on the sale of ivory would be subject to consultation. Details of the timetable for such a consultation would be announced at launch.

Air Pollution: North of England

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of air quality in Liverpool, Walton constituency; and what steps he is taking to improve air quality in northern cities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Local authorities have a duty under the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess air quality for a range of pollutants in their areas. If a local authority finds any places that are not likely to achieve national air quality objectives it must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and to draw up an action plan detailing remedial measures to address the problem. In the case of Liverpool it has declared the whole city as an AQMA and expects to meet the annual mean for nitrogen dioxide by 2020. In November 2016 I met Councillor Ann O’Byrne, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool City Council and Steve Rotheram the then MP for Liverpool, Walton and now Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to discuss air quality in the City. In February 2017 I also met Dr Jon Lamonte, Chief Executive of Transport for Greater Manchester, which has responsibility for air quality on behalf of the Combined Authority, to discuss air quality there. In 2016 Manchester amended the individual borough AQMAs into a single one for the Combined Authority. Defra publishes the latest information covering local authorities in the ‘Air Pollution in the UK’ report published on our website and available here: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/. Air quality reports of the local authorities are based on 43 areas within the UK (termed zones and agglomerations) and Walton is contained in the agglomeration Liverpool Urban Area UK0006. We will also be publishing the final Air Quality Plan for nitrogen dioxide by 31 July, which will include next steps for cities across the United Kingdom where exceedances exist.

Air Pollution

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the mean average value for nitrogen dioxide levels by parliamentary constituency in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not hold the specified information by Parliamentary constituency. Information on modelled annual mean nitrogen dioxide concentrations for 2015 by local authority is available via the UK Ambient Air Quality Interactive map on our website at: uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce late Basic Payment Sceheme payments; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency has made a number of improvements in the processing of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2016 claims. Last year a record number of BPS claimants applied through the online system.   As of 28 June 2017, 85,197 eligible farmers (99.2% of the total) have been issued their BPS payment. The Rural Payments Agency continues to focus on the completion of the remainder and dealing with any queries on BPS 2016 claims raised by farmers.

Berries and Soft Fruit: Migrant Workers

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of using tier 3 visas to tackle labour shortages in the soft fruit industry.

George Eustice: We remain closely engaged with industry to ensure that we are informed of the latest intelligence on the labour market. The Home Office intends to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to better understand the reliance on EU migrant workers across the economy and consider the UK’s labour market needs. The number of non-UK workers in the agriculture and horticulture sector after we leave the EU will depend on the final shape of domestic immigration policy.

Public Footpaths: Christchurch

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his Department's policy to require Natural England to designate the proposed route of the national coastal footpath in Christchurch constituency as being from Highcliffe to Mudeford Quay and across the Avon estuary direct to Hengistbury Head; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On 21 June 2017 Natural England published its proposals for coastal access for the 41 mile stretch of the coast between Kimmeridge Bay and Highcliffe, Dorset. There is a now an eight week consultation period for representations to be made on the proposals. The closing date for representations is midnight on 16 August 2017. We will then consider Natural England’s proposals in the light of such representations.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that all new houses are sold on a freehold basis.

Alok Sharma: We are reviewing issues relating to leasehold and will provide further information shortly.The Government identified that tackling onerous ground rents and leasehold houses were priorities in the Housing White Paper.We are also working closely with the Law Commission on leasehold reform, building on their 13th programme of law reform consultation which had a significant response – over 1,000 submissions – on residential leasehold.

Social Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what requirement there is on councils to ensure fire exits, emergency lighting and fire safety information is in place in all social housing properties.

Alok Sharma: The Building Regulations and the supporting guidance already make it a requirement for appropriate fire precautions in new buildings.Housing providers, including social housing providers, are expected to carry out and regularly review a fire risk assessment for the common parts of their buildings and put in place the measures identified in those risk assessments, which could include provision of relevant fire safety information. Further detail on what is required for purpose build flats is set out in the guidance – https://www.local.gov.uk/fire-safety-purpose-built-flats. Further detail on what is required in other forms of housing is set out in the guidance at http://www.cieh.org/library/Knowledge/Housing/National_fire_safety_guidance_08.pdf

Building Regulations: Fires

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Building Regulations Advisory Committee will be recalled to consider the review of Approved Document B (fire safety).

Alok Sharma: The Building Regulations Advisory Committee met on Thursday 22 June to discuss the Grenfell Tower Fire, including the implications for Approved Document B (Fire Safety) and the Building Regulations more generally.At the meeting it was agreed that the Committee would reconvene regularly in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. The next date is not yet confirmed.

Building Regulations: Fires

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Building Regulations Advisory Committee last met to consider the building regulations and Approved Document B (fire safety).

Alok Sharma: The Building Regulations Advisory Committee met on Thursday 22 June to discuss the Grenfell Tower Fire, including the implications for Approved Document B (fire Safety) and the building regulations more generally.

Private Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (a) how many private rented sector households have approached his Department for advice about the combustibility of their buildings, (b) in how many buildings tested since the Grenfell Tower fire have inflammable materials been identified and (c) what estimate he has made of the number of private rented sector properties that need to be investigated.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 27 June 2017



The safety of tower block residents is paramount. The Government is asking all landlords of high rise buildings (including those in the private sector) to take action to check cladding and to act on interim safety advice.The department has made our government funded testing process available to private residential building owners so that landlords can quickly check the safety of their cladding, take the necessary action and reassure their residents that they are safe in their homes. The department has received over 150 enquiries from private residential building owners about the testing process since the offer of tests was made on 21st June.The number of high rise buildings from which cladding samples have failed a combustibility test at the Building Research Establishment is now 190 across 51 local authority areas. The department has not made an estimate of the number of private rented sector properties with Aluminium Composite (ACM) cladding. Private Sector Landlords are responsible for the safety of their buildings. We encourage them to use the testing facilities offered by the government.

Council Tax: Empty Property

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities in England charge an empty homes premium; what the percentage premium charged for each council tax band is in each authority area; what the number of empty properties is in each such band in each such area; how many empty properties there are in each such area; and what revenue has been raised in each such area in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Alok Sharma: Statistics for 2016 showing:which local authorities in England charge an empty homes premium;The percentage premium charged for each council tax band is in each authority area;what the number of empty properties is in each such band in each such area;how many empty properties there are in each such area; are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-taxbase-2016-in-EnglandThe Government does not collect statistics on what revenue has been raised through the Empty Homes Premium in each such area.

Housing: Construction

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce a lower minimum threshold for unit delivery to increase the number of small builders eligible to apply for the Home Building Fund.

Alok Sharma: The £3 billion Home Building Fund is open to projects that will provide a minimum of 5 new homes to ensure that we drive up housing supply by encouraging house builders to grow their businesses, delivering maximum value for money for the tax payer. We have no plans to change these criteria.

Housing: Construction

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Homes and Communities Agency on the use of intermediaries such as banks and alternative lenders to increase finance available for small builders.

Alok Sharma: My Department and the Homes and Communities Agency speak regularly to banks and lenders about increasing development finance to small and medium sized builders. We have contributed £50 million to the Housing Growth Partnership, with Lloyds Banking Group also putting in £50 million to increase overall lending to get homes built. We will continue to explore opportunities to ensure maximum impact of funding is delivered across the sector.

Housing: Construction

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the Home Building Fund has been allocated to property developers since October 2016.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of successful applications to the Home Building Fund are from small builders providing fewer than 100 units per year.

Alok Sharma: The £3 billion Home Building Fund provides long and short term loan finance to build the homes this country needs. To date the fund has allocated £1.177 billon (40 per cent).Of the £1 billion short term fund £0.411 billion (41 per cent) has been allocated. The proportion of schemes which will be delivered by small and medium sized builders is 70 per cent. Of which, nearly 90 per cent of these sites have fewer than 100 homes.

Homelessness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government intends to reintroduce the Homelessness Reduction Bill.

Mr Marcus Jones: The previous government supported the Homelessness Reduction Act which progressed through Parliament with cross-party support and received Royal Assent on Thursday 27 April 2017.The Act is designed to significantly reform England's homelessness legislation by placing duties on local authorities to intervene at earlier stages to prevent homelessness in their areas. It also requires local authorities to provide new homelessness services to all those affected not just those who are protected under existing legislation.The Homelessness Reduction Act will be implemented once commencement regulations have been laid in Parliament.A copy of the Act is available at the following link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/13/contents/enacted

Housing: Construction

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 79 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to build all new homes to Lifetime Homes Standard, and to ensure that up-to-date registers are kept of accessible and suitable social housing.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 introduced a duty on the Secretary of State to issue further guidance on the provision of accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people. This will help local authorities to determine when to apply the higher access standards available in Building Regulations optional requirements for accessible and adaptable homes, which is based on Lifetime Homes. This will help meet the needs of those groups identified in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report.Accessible housing registers can be useful and we are aware that some councils and social landlords have incorporated such an approach within their lettings scheme.The Government believes it is important that people who require accessible housing are given the right level of priority and that councils and social landlords are able to make the best use of affordable housing in their area.

Social Rented Housing

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rent-to-buy products are within the definition of affordable housing for the purposes of local authority section 106 agreements.

Alok Sharma: Our White paper Fixing the Broken Housing Market, published in February, made clear that Rent to Buy products can help to meet affordable housing needs. We intend to reflect this in an updated definition of affordable housing for planning purposes when the National Planning Policy Framework is reviewed. We are also investing £7.1 billion in the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver 225,000 affordable housing starts by March 2021, including Rent to Buy homes.

Local Authorities: Licensing

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 85 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to devolve decisions about the implementation of selective licensing to local or combined authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones: Since April 2015, government approval is required for selective licensing schemes that encompass more than:20 per cent of a local authority’s private rented stock; or20 per cent of a local authority’s geographical area.At the same time measures were introduced to make targeted licensing schemes easier to introduce by widening the licensing criteria of low housing demand or anti-social behaviour to include: migration, crime, poor property condition and deprivation.These changes were introduced to ensure that local authorities apply selective licensing in a targeted way to help address specific problems in the areas concerned.

Fire Prevention

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what changes have been made to standard fire safety tests conducted on external cladding since the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



A note explaining the government building safety programme, including an explanation of the methodology being used by the Building Research Establishment to test samples of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing

Private Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to survey and test external cladding on private sector accommodation.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



Testing in residential tower blocks is well underway. Local authorities and housing associations have been instructed to submit samples of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding for testing. We have also alerted owners, landlords and managers of private sector residential blocks, and made the testing facility available to them at no cost. We are working closely with landlords, local authorities and the fire and rescue services to determine the best course of action for any block of flats - including private residential blocks - determined to have ACM.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what safety tests are being conducted on non-domestic public high-rise buildings.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



We have initiated testing in priority buildings across the public sector, including NHS Trust and Foundation Trust buildings. We are prioritising testing on buildings where people sleep overnight, which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are of a certain height. We will identify further priorities for testing in the coming days.

Fire Resistant Materials

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that all building materials used in schools, hospitals, care homes, prisons and other public facilities with vulnerable inhabitants are tested for fire resistance.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



We have initiated testing in priority buildings across the public sector, including schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons. We are prioritising testing on buildings where people sleep overnight, which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are of a certain height. Where appropriate, organisations are working with the fire and rescue service locally to put in place precautionary safety checks and measures. We have appointed an expert panel to advise on further immediate steps which should be taken, including checking other materials.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what translation services are provided in each of the relief centres related to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



Translation services are provided by the local authorities that manage the Westway Assistance Centre, using existing contracted providers.

Rented Housing: Electrical Safety

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make electrical safety checks in rented homes mandatory after the working group set up by his Department under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 completes its work.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 July 2017



Following Royal Assent of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, a Working Group of relevant experts was established to provide recommendations to ministers on what, if any, legislative requirements for electrical safety in the private rented sector should be introduced. The Working Group has concluded and their report and recommendations are being considered.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to publish the review of Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations following the Lakanal House fire inquest in 2013.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to require the uploading of records to a centrally-monitored database of fire safety inspections and refurbishments of properties owned by (a) local authorities, (b) housing associations and (c) private landlords.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Answer of 26 June 2017, Official Report, column 361, when he last met representatives of estate management companies to discuss fire safety and thier obligations to tenants in managed apartment blocks.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what oversight his Department has of the dispersal of relief funding being collected by different organisations for the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Alok Sharma: DCLG has contributed £1 million to a fund co-ordinated by the London Funders, in partnership with a coalition of independent charitable trusts and foundations, to support charities and other groups helping those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. The consortia will provide assurance to DCLG that resources granted from this fund support the local voluntary sector to meet the needs of the communities affected, ensure the organisations are working to support those affected and that they are already an established local resource and are relied upon by local people.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that trustees of the organisations responsible for the dispersal of relief funding after the Grenfell Tower tragedy have no conflict of interest.

Alok Sharma: As stated in my answer today to Question UIN 2110, the consortium will provide assurance to DCLG that this fund is used to support the local community and voluntary sector to meet the immediate needs of those affected by the fire. The consortium will also ensure the organisations in receipt of this funding are recognised charities, incorporated bodies or other organisations which are operating for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes and have been directly supporting those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Parking: Urban Areas

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to end monopoly control of off-road car parking in town centres by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Parking in town centres is provided by both private companies and local authorities. Local authority car parks are strongly regulated by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004. In 2015 the government published statutory guidance to assist Local Authorities in complying with the requirements of the legislation.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on preventing local authorities from setting excessive car parking charges; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Local authorities are best placed to determine the level of parking charges in their local areas. The Government strongly recommends that local authorities take account of the effect of parking charges on their local town centres.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to encourage local authorities to offer business rate relief to non-maintained childcare and early-education providers.

Mr Marcus Jones: At the Budget, the Government announced a £435 million package of support to help those businesses most in need of support following the revaluation. It included £110 million to support rate-payers losing small business rates relief and rural rate relief as a result of the 2017 revaluation, as well as a £300 million discretionary relief fund for local authorities to help local businesses. Additionally, if a non-maintained childcare and early-education provider is also a registered charity for business rates purposes it may also qualify for relief.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of business rate increases on the financial sustainability of non-maintained childcare and early-education providers.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Regional Planning and Development

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2017 to Question 594, on regional planning and development, if he will set out how his Department is measuring tangible progress.

Jake Berry: Government tracks progress on a range of measures that are included in the Northern Powerhouse Strategy, published 23 November 2016. For example, we have 3 newly elected Northern Powerhouse regional mayors in Greater Manchester, Tees Valley, and Liverpool City Region each with ambitious new powers and bespoke investment funds. Through Growth Deals we have allocated £3.4 billion of investment to improve transport links, unlock housing and enhance digital connectivity. We continue to build on this progress by working closely with local partners and businesses across the North to ensure the success of the Northern Powerhouse.

Waveney District Council: Suffolk Coastal District Council

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2017 to Question 69471, what plans he has to facilitate the merger of Waveney and Suffolk Coastal district councils to form a new East Suffolk Authority.

Mr Marcus Jones: If having considered all relevant information and representations, as explained in the answer of 18 April 2017, we reach a final decision in favour of the merger, we will seek Parliamentary approval to the necessary secondary legislation to effect that merger. If Parliament approves the legislation, it will be for the councils concerned to implement the merger. We intend to work with any councils implementing mergers.

Combined Authorities: Dorset

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce his decision on the application made in July 2016 to create a Dorset Combined Authority for economic regeneration and transport infrastructure.

Mr Marcus Jones: Consideration of the Dorset combined authority proposal is closely interconnected with consideration of the Dorset unitary proposal, submitted on 9 February. Our intention is to announce an initial decision as to how we are minded to proceed on the unitary proposal as soon as practicable, with any such announcement including an indication of how we intend to move forward on the combined authority proposal.

Non-domestic Rates: Rural Areas

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to set out the criteria for applications by lower-tier rural authorities to participate in a pilot for 100 per cent business rates retention.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government has a manifesto commitment to continue to give local government greater control over the money they raise. We intend to continue to collaborate closely with local government over the coming months on how we will achieve this commitment and it is in this context we will discuss the future of business rates retention pilots.

Buildings: Standards

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has conducted checks of the type carried out on residential buildings at (a) NHS hospitals, (b) schools, (c) colleges, (d) universities and (e) other public buildings.

Alok Sharma: We have initiated testing in priority buildings across the public sector, including hospitals, schools, colleges and universities. We are prioritising testing on buildings where people sleep overnight, which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are of a certain height. Where appropriate, organisations are working with the fire and rescue service to put in place precautionary safety checks and measures. We have set up an expert panel to advise us on any immediate steps that should be taken to ensure fire safety, and we will act on those. The role of the expert panel and the advice already given following Grenfell is set out in a note published last week at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing

Public Buildings: Fire Prevention

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2017 to Question 588, what (a) number and (b) proportion of public sector buildings where people are (i) required and (ii) not required to sleep overnight have had their cladding tested; and when he expects all such buildings in each group to have been tested.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises in each year since 2010.

David Mundell: Other than minor or bespoke purchases, the Scotland Office does not normally undertake direct procurement or tendering projects. It uses existing service contracts between suppliers and the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice. No Scotland Office contracts put out to tender were awarded to charities or social enterprises since 2010.

HM Treasury

Debts: Households

Rachael Maskell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of changes in the level of household debt over the last two years.

Stephen Barclay: The independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) was set up by the government to assess and mitigate financial stability risks, including from household debt. The FPC has taken action to ensure against a significant rise in highly indebted households. Household debt-to-income has increased marginally from 141% two years ago to 145% in Q1 2017. This remains significantly below its pre-crisis peak of 160% in Q1 2008.

Per Capita Costs

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total public spending per person has been in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency in the last three years.

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total public spending per person in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency in the next three years.

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total public spending per person in Northern Ireland has been in the last three years.

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total public spending per person in Northern Ireland in the next three years.

Elizabeth Truss: Public spending per person for the last three years is available for the North West, England and Northern Ireland. This information was published in 2016 in the HM Treasury ‘Country and Regional Analysis’ release. This information is only produced for outturn years, plans information is not produced in this format. Information on total public sector spending in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency is not centrally available. The Department for Communities and Local Government collect information on local authority current and capital expenditure, however this forms only part of total public expenditure.

Public Expenditure

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what spending commitments the Government has made since 8 June 2017; and what the cost to the public purse of those commitments is.

Elizabeth Truss: Ministers and departments make public statements on government spending on an ongoing basis. The Government will set out overall changes to departmental allocations, reflecting such statements where appropriate, at the Budget, in line with the normal process.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will reduce high costs of motor insurance for people living in certain postcodes.

Stephen Barclay: An insurer will make a decision about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the risks posed by an individual. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics, including post code data.  The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers.

Credit: Interest Rates

Lyn Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 66 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to support a scheme to pilot access to low-interest or no-interest loans for those who cannot access credit through the market.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is committed to facilitating sustainable financial services that give consumers greater choice in accessing credit. The Government is working to support the credit union sector, which provides an accessible alternative to high cost credit. This includes investing £38m in the sector through the Department of Work and Pensions’ Credit Union Expansion Project. This project is helping the sector modernise and become self-sustainable, and includes the development of a shared IT platform for those credit unions signed up, which will help meet the growing demand for modern banking products for people on low incomes. The project aims to increase credit union membership to 2 million by 2020, and is expected to save consumers up to £1 billion in loan interest repayments by March 2019.

VAT: Sanitary Protection

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the merits of removing VAT from sanitary products.

Mel Stride: Finance Act 2016 is clear that a VAT zero-rate will be introduced on women’s sanitary products “not after the later of, (a) 1st April 2017, and (b) the earliest date that may be appointed consistently with the UK’s EU obligations”.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of directly linking alcohol duty to alcohol content; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: The government keeps all excise duties and structures under review. HM Treasury monitors their impacts and engages with a wide variety of organisations, including alcohol producers and public health groups, to understand industry developments. HM Treasury is currently examining options to amend the structure of the alcohol duty system so that duty rates better correspond to alcoholic strength. A consultation on alcohol duty structures recently ended on 12 June. It sought to gather evidence on the impact of a low strength wine band and a still cider band targeting ‘white’ ciders.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Government plans to ratify formally the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Mel Stride: A Command Paper setting out the UK’s plans to ratify the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will be laid before Parliament once legislation to implement the Protocol has been approved by Parliament. While the UK already has many of the Protocol’s requirements in place, the requirement to license tobacco manufacturing machinery has not yet been implemented. Legislation to accomplish this will be brought before Parliament as soon as possible.

Automated Credit Transfer: Fraud

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the UK economy of bank-transfer fraud.

Stephen Barclay: The Government has not made an assessment of the annual cost of bank transfer scams (otherwise known as Authorised Push Payment scams) to the UK economy, because the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is currently undertaking work to assess the scale and scope of the problem. This is part of their wider programme of work to better protect consumers from these scams and reduce the damage they cause. The programme also includes working with Financial Fraud Action UK to develop a common understanding of what data on these scams can be shared between banks, and what barriers stand in the way of sharing further information; and developing best practice standards that banks should follow when responding to these scams. The PSR is also looking at what role the payment system operators CHAPS and Faster Payments Service (the systems that allow push payments to be made) could play in mitigating the damage caused by Authorised Push Payment scams. The PSR will publish a review of progress in the second half of 2017.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Lyn Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 84 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendation to make stamp duty counter-cyclical by introducing frequent up-rating at the rate of consumer prices.

Mel Stride: Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is already a progressive tax. The majority of transactions pay an effective tax rate of less than one per cent. SDLT has a zero per cent starting threshold for transactions up to £125,000 which meant that in 2015-16 a quarter of transactions paid no SDLT at all. All taxes are kept under review.

LIBOR

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Stephen Barclay: The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on a wide range of issues relating to financial services. As has been the practice of previous administrations, the Government does not provide details of such discussions.

Personal Income

Ian Blackford: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of inflation and wage growth on household incomes between January and March 2017.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is taking action to support incomes. This includes increasing the National Living Wage, raising the personal allowance and freezing fuel duty. According to the Office for National Statistics, total real wage growth was positive between January and March 2017. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expect nominal wage growth to increase in each year of their forecast, with growth over 3.5% by 2021. They expect these increases to occur alongside CPI falling back towards 2%. The OBR also forecast real household disposable income per head to reach a new record high in 2020.

Debts

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of 29 March 2017 by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Official Report, column 196WH, what progress has been made on exploring the option of introducing a Breathing Space scheme for families affected by problem debt.

Stephen Barclay: The government fully supports the principles of better debt management and lower levels of problem debt. This government has a manifesto commitment to introduce a statutory breathing space that would give heavily indebted consumers a period of respite from enforcement action, and further interest and charges for a period of up to six weeks. Where appropriate, they will be offered a statutory repayment plan to help them pay back their debts in a sustainable way. We will outline further information on how this policy could be implemented in due course.

Treasury: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Stephen Kerr: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was allocated to Scotland, outside consequentials arising from the Barnett Formula, in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 2014, the UK government has committed to over £675m investment in Scotland through City Deals, which have included both resource and capital outside the normal, ongoing Barnett funding system. Scotland has also benefited from resource allocated through LIBOR fines, including: Over £10m announced at Budget 2016, to support projects such as the new V&A Museum of Design in Dundee, and community facilities for local people in Helensburgh and the nearby naval base at Faslane.Over £3m announced at Autumn Statement 2016, to support projects such as the Aberdeen Museums Development Trust, the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland, and Poppy Scotland.

Infrastructure: Scotland

Stephen Kerr: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many infrastructure projects the Government supported in Scotland in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 2014, the UK government has committed to over £675m of investment to support various infrastructure projects in Scotland through City Deals, including:£500m funding towards a Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal£125m towards an Aberdeen City DealOver £50m towards an Inverness and Highlands City Region DealThe government has already committed to delivering 3 more City Deals in Scotland, and is working with local partners to agree these. And as a result of the UK government’s decision to focus on investment in infrastructure in the Autumn Statement 2016 and Spring Budget 2017, the Scottish Government’s capital budget will increase by £890m through to 2020-21. The Scottish Government will be able to use this money to support projects across its devolved responsibilities, including infrastructure. Scotland will also benefit from UK-wide investment in infrastructure, including the UK government’s digital infrastructure package, and the new National 5G Innovation Network that was announced at the Spring Budget 2017.

Public Sector: Pay

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of government expenditure has been spent on public sector pay in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Proportion of Government Expenditure spent on public sector pay in each of the last five years is as follows: National Statistics£million 2011-12 outturn2012-13 outturn2013-14 outturn2014-15 outturn2015-16 outturnPay165,995164,135163,627167,173171,859Total Managed Expenditure (2)716,170731,993736,886751,988753,878Pay as proportion of TME23.18%22.42%22.21%22.23%22.80%(2) This excludes the temporary effects of banks being classified to the public sector.Source: Public Spending Statistics May 2017 (National Statistics)

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Deidre  Brock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Scotland on the negotiations between the Government and the Democratic Unionist Party on confidence and supply.

Elizabeth Truss: I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Scotland and Cabinet colleagues on a range of matters of importance to Scotland and the UK.

Treasury: EU Law

John Redwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many new EU directives relating to his Department's responsibilities are in negotiation in the EU.

Elizabeth Truss: Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. HM Treasury is responsible for measures relating to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council. This includes economic policy, taxation issues, financial markets and capital movements, the EU budget, economic relations with countries outside the EU, and coordination of EU positions for international meetings such as the G20, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The Department provides Explanatory Memoranda to Parliament on any proposals defined by the terms of reference of the parliamentary EU scrutiny committees, which can be found online.

Financial Services

Sir Vince Cable: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to prevent UK-based companies in the financial sector moving abroad when the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Barclay: We are engaging with firms on a regular basis, and reassuring them of the Government’s aim to agree a bold and ambitious free-trade agreement. Transitional arrangements to avoid unnecessary disruption and dangerous cliff edges will be mutually beneficial. This will give firms more time before they have to make permanent decisions regarding their future plans, and minimise the need for them to restructure their operations. We will also ensure that EU legislation is brought into UK law in good time to ensure firms have certainty about their regulatory environment once the UK leaves the EU.

Financial Services

Sir Vince Cable: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the effect has been on (a) employment and (b) UK public finances of financial sector companies moving abroad since the vote to leave the EU.

Stephen Barclay: The Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes regular updates on employment figures, including by sector. In terms of the economy as a whole, the ONS has calculated that the employment rate from February to April 2017 was 74.8%, the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971. The Office for Budget Responsibility is due to publish its next report on the public finances later this month.

Financial Services

Sir Vince Cable: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of UK-based financial sector companies that (a) have moved certain operations abroad since the vote to leave the EU and (b) are planning to move operations abroad when the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Barclay: We understand the issues that the UK’s departure from the EU creates for the financial sector as a whole and for specific firms. The government believes that an implementation period agreed early in the process would help both sides to minimise unnecessary disruption. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes regular updates on employment figures, including by sector.

Public Sector: Pay

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of public sector workers have received a pay rise above one per cent since 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: The pay for an individual public sector worker is affected by several factors including progression pay, allowances and the one per cent pay policy. It will therefore vary by individual. HMT does not collect this data centrally.

Income Tax: Landlords

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people declaring an income from letting out property pay the (a) additional, (b) higher and (c) standard rates of income tax.

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total tax collected from declared income from residential rental properties was in each year since 2010-11.

Mel Stride: The government is unable to produce an estimate for the total tax collected from declared income from residential rental properties. This is because income tax receipts cannot be allocated to individual income sources. Individuals may have multiple income sources but pay tax on their total income subject to income tax, after deducting their tax allowances. These allowances and tax rates are not applied to income streams individually but to total taxable income. The table below provides a breakdown of the number of individual unincorporated landlords by their tax brackets on the basis of the 2014-15 self-assessment returns. Figures in the table reflect outturn data on landlords’ total incomes subject to income tax which includes, among others, rental incomes. Number of individual landlords by marginal rate, 2014-15 (rounded to nearest thousand)Basic rateHigher rateAdditional rate1,254,000584,00082,000

Housing: Taxation

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what taxes related to property are paid by (a) unincorporated residential landlords on properties they rent out and (b) owner occupiers.

Mel Stride: Unincorporated residential landlords are chargeable to income tax on the profits of their rental business. A landlord who buys a property is liable to stamp duty land tax on the purchase price. A landlord who sells a rental property will pay capital gains tax on any increase in the value of the property. Unincorporated residential landlords will not usually be registered for VAT as domestic lets are exempt from VAT. An owner occupier would be chargeable to income tax on any rental income from their property. An owner occupier would also pay stamp duty land tax when they buy a property. An owner occupier would not pay capital gains tax on the sale of a property that had been their main residence for the whole period of ownership, as this would be exempted by private residence relief. Owner occupiers would usually be liable for council tax.

Mortgages: Tax Allowances

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to review the effect of mortgage interest relief changes as they apply to landlords.

Mel Stride: As with all aspects of the tax system, the government will keep the taxation of property income under review.

Mortgages: Tax Allowances

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many rental properties will be affected by changes to mortgage interest relief being phased-in since April 2017.

Mel Stride: Using self-assessment data, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimated that only 1 in 5 landlords will pay more tax as a result of this measure. No estimate has been made specifically about the number of properties that will be affected by this change. This is because taxpayers currently do not inform HMRC how many properties their finance costs relate to.

Public Sector: Pay

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of public sector workers have received a pay rise limited to one per cent since 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: The pay for an individual public sector worker is affected by several factors including progression pay, allowances and the one per cent pay policy. It will therefore vary by individual. HMT does not collect this data centrally.

Department for International Development

Infectious Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to support programmes to reduce tropical diseases in affected countries.

Alistair Burt: Tackling tropical diseases is a priority for DFID. In April 2017 the Secretary of State announced that the UK Government would invest in programmes to protect over 200 million people from the ill health caused by Neglected Tropical Diseases, which affect some of the world’s poorest people. DFID also continues to be a leader in the fight against malaria through our support to the Global Fund, our investment in research and the programmes we support in affected countries. We also support research into new diagnostics and drugs for malaria, and new products to tackle NTDs.

East Africa: Food Aid

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) funding and (b) assistance the Government is providing to ease hunger and prevent famine in Sudan and Somalia.

Rory Stewart: The UK is providing a range of assistance in response to humanitarian needs across Sudan and Somalia, as well as pushing others to step up support.DFID has committed £4.5 million to the World Food Programme in Sudan to provide cash and vouchers to 486,000 vulnerable people in Darfur between June and October 2017 and £4.5 million to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which is expected to reach at least 404,000 people across Sudan with food security and livelihoods assistance by the end of 2017.On 17 June the Secretary of State visited Somalia to announce a £60m uplift in UK support to drought relief operations, on top of a contribution of £110m announced in February. Since February our support has provided emergency food assistance for 986,000 people and access to safe drinking water to 1,033,000 alongside a broader package of support to tackle malnutrition and disease and provide livestock vaccinations.

Fairtrade Initiative: Trade Agreements

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Ministers in other Departments on the value of the Fairtrade scheme to future trade deals; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: DFID’s Economic Development Strategy sets out the need for sustainable economic growth and quality jobs in order to reduce poverty. DFID is working closely with other government departments, in particular the Department for International Trade, to ensure that future trade deals work for producers in developing countries as well as the UK national interest. DFID is a longstanding supporter of Fairtrade and is currently supporting the pilot of a supply chain mapping programme known as Fairtrace.

East Africa: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Sudan and (b) South Sudan.

Rory Stewart: There are currently estimated to be 4.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. Sudan is also currently hosting more than 400,000 South Sudanese refugees, of which more than 150,000 have arrived in 2017. The UK is working with partners to respond to these challenges and monitor emerging needs.South Sudan is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. 6 million people now lack food to feed themselves and their families, and almost 4 million have fled their homes. The UK is working with international partners to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance and ensure people receive urgently needed food, water, and medicine, as well as longer term support.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: Yemen is one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. According to the UN, almost 21 million people (over 70% of the population) are in need of humanitarian aid and 7 million face extreme food shortages (including 462,000 children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition). As a result, Yemen is facing the world’s worst cholera outbreak with 262,650 cases recorded and over 1,587 deaths.In response, the UK has increased our funding for Yemen to £139 million for 2017/18. This includes support for cholera prevention, and the provision of medical supplies and treatment for those affected. In addition, we are helping fund 1 million cholera vaccines that are currently being sent to Yemen through GAVI, the Global Vaccine Alliance. Last year, the UK helped more than 1 million Yemenis with emergency humanitarian assistance, including food, healthcare and nutrition support.The UK is the second largest donor to the UN’s Yemen appeal, and continues active lobbying for a political solution as well for others in the international community to step up co-ordinated action and funding.

Guinea: Measles

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is giving to improve routine measles vaccination programmes in Guinea.

Rory Stewart: The UK is supporting Guinea to strengthen its routine health and immunisation systems, through the UK’s investment in Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. In 2016 Gavi immunised over 2 million children with measles vaccine in Guinea, and will support Guinea to introduce measles into its routine vaccination programmes in the future.

Sustainable Development: Education

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make a statement on the achievability of Sustainable Development Goal number four on inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Alistair Burt: SDG4 represents an ambitious expansion of the education agenda from a focus on access to basic education to a focus on learning for all children.Despite significant progress on access over the last 15 years, the challenge of implementing the SDG is significant. Over a quarter of a billion children remain out of school, particularly those in crises, and amongst socially excluded groups (including girls, refugees and children with disability). Furthermore the quality of education is a major concern.As one of the largest bilateral donors to basic education the UK will continue to prioritise improvements to the quality and effectiveness of education. We will also work with the international community to ensure all boys and girls - especially those who are marginalised, displaced or in fragile states – have access to a decent education and are learning.

Cabinet Office

Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will repeal the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act 2011.

Chris Skidmore: The Government stated in its manifesto its intention to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

Regulation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on the Red Tape Challenge in each year since its inception.

Caroline Nokes: Holding answer received on 27 June 2017



The amount spent on the Red Tape Challenge by the Cabinet Office in each year since its inception is shown below. FY 2016/17 £124,600FY 2015/16 £297,855FY 2014/15 £829,368FY 2013/14 £139,526FY 2012/13 £465,172FY 2011/12 £176,357 The Red Tape Challenge programme was launched by the Cabinet Office in 2011 and ran until 2015. Its purpose was to help deliver the then Prime Minister’s and the coalition Government’s commitment to be the first government to leave with the overall burden of regulation on business reduced. Each Department in Government was challenged to identify out-of-date, obsolete or unnecessary regulations around a series of themes and sectors. The Red Tape Challenge had, by 2014, identified over 3,000 regulations to scrap or improve, delivering estimated savings to UK businesses of over £850m per year as a result of the programme.

Voting Behaviour

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the merits of introducing compulsory voting at future elections.

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the merits of making future general election days a national holiday to encourage greater participation.

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the merits of various proportional voting systems; and if he will assess the merits of introducing a single transferable vote system for future elections.

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that everyone should have the opportunity to vote and has taken steps to increase electoral participation. We are committed to maximising electoral registration to ensure that the largest possible number of people are able to vote in any election.The Government believes that there is no clear evidence that voting on a national holiday would lead to an increase in turnout.The Government’s manifesto made a commitment to extending the First Past the Post to all UK elections. The Government’s view is that the First Past the Post system is well-understood by the electorate and provides a clear link between constituents and their representative in Parliament. In each constituency, candidates are elected to represent the views of their constituents and in each case a candidate for whom more people voted than for any of the alternatives is elected. Furthermore, in the May 2011 the UK held a referendum where more than two-thirds voted against switching to the ‘Alternative Vote’ (AV) system and in favour of retaining first past the post. As a result, it would be hard to justify ignoring the democratic verdict in the referendum, and equally as hard to make a case for a further referendum on a more ambitious reform such as PR.It is believed by some that the introduction of compulsory voting would improve turnout and democratic engagement. However, the Government believes that when participating in a ballot, the position should be that an elector makes a positive choice rather than a negative one. It does not agree, therefore, that the introduction of compulsory voting would be a positive step.

Electoral Register

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will introduce measures similar to the Northern Ireland Electoral Office Schools Initiative in the UK.

Chris Skidmore: Many Electoral Registration Officers already work with local schools and colleges in their area to promote registration and the Government fully supports such activity. As part of my ‘Every Voice Matters’ tour of the country, I have visited many organisations and colleges promoting registration and will be publishing our Democratic Engagement Strategy later in the year. I refer you to the answer I gave to the house in 14th December 2016 (column 781).

Social Services

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans that the upcoming consultation on social care will include (a) adults affected by dementia, (b) all adults requiring care and support and (c) children's social care.

Damian Green: We will work to address the challenges of social care for our ageing population, bringing forward proposals for consultation to build widespread support.The Government will make further announcements on the scope of the consultation in due course.

Political Parties: Advertising

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Electoral Commission's powers to regulate online political campaign advertising.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is currently considering its response to both the Electoral Commission report on campaign spending and to the Lord Hodgson Review into third party campaigning. Online political campaign advertising is regulated by the Political Parties, Election and Referendums Act 2000, in the same way as offline political campaign advertising.

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department were awarded to (a) charities and (b) social enterprises in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: This information is not held centrally. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 places a requirement on commissioners in England to consider the economic, environmental and social benefits of their approaches to procurement before the process starts, at the pre-procurement stage.

Democratic Unionist Party

Tim Farron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the agendas and minutes of all future meetings of the Government's coordination committee with the Democratic Unionist party will be made public.

Damian Green: The modus operandi of the coordination committee will need to be agreed between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to implement a policy to prevent hackers from accessing and altering data used to inform government decisions.

Caroline Nokes: The HMG Security Policy Framework sets out the mandatory expectations of how Government organisations must secure their data and other assets. This includes appropriate controls to protect against hackers and other cyber threats. These security controls are designed to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Government data.

Self-employed: East Renfrewshire

Paul Masterton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are registered as self-employed in East Renfrewshire constituency.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to PQ1946
(PDF Document, 180.44 KB)

Electoral Register: Proof of Identity

Jim McMahon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2017 to Question 689, if he will publish the list of areas in which voter identification pilots will take place in the May 2018 elections.

Chris Skidmore: We are currently engaging with local authorities. We will make an announcement later in the year once we have confirmed which local authorities are participating.

Department for International Trade

Campaign against Arms Trade

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list the costs incurred by the Government in the legal case on arms sales to Saudi Arabia brought against it by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

Mark Garnier: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Balance of Payments: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how the Government plans to ensure that the North East retains its balance of payment surplus after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) is committed to supporting the region with a network of International Trade Advisors and a collaboration with major business multipliers such as the North East England Chamber of Commerce. The region is part of the Northern Powerhouse from which DIT will this year run 16 trade missions. North East businesses are also encouraged to join DIT’s national mission programme and DIT’s national High Value Campaigns, which focus on key sector opportunities overseas. DIT Northern Powerhouse sector specialists support inward investment to help maintain the strong business and industrial base in the region.

Export Credit Guarantees: South America

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies from (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland have applied for export credit support for trade with (i) Argentina, (ii) Brazil and (iii) Peru in the latest period for which figures are available.

Greg Hands: Since April 2012, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has provided support to 25 businesses exporting to Argentina, Brazil and Peru. UKEF does not hold centrally figures for companies that have applied or enquired about its support. The numbers of companies that UKEF has supported by nation are provided in the table below. ArgentinaBrazilPeruEngland3154Wales*000Scotland030Northern Ireland000*One company’s headquarters are based in England but has major manufacturing centres in both England and Wales.

Qatar: Arms Trade

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what arms sales between the UK and Qatar were carried out from 2010 to 2017.

Mark Garnier: Arms sales data by region are published annually on GOV.UK.The Government publishes Official Statistics about export licences granted and refused each quarter. The data currently includes details of licences up to 31 December 2016. Data for the period 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017 will be published on 18 July 2017. The data can be accessed on GOV.UKLicences granted are not necessarily a measure of exports shipped in a given period as they are valid for between two and five years. Licensing data only provides a partial indication of sales as exporters only declare export values for a subsection of licences (Standard Individual Export Licences). Some licences expire before they are used and in these circumstances exporters must submit a further application, which can result in an element of double counting.The value of arms export licences issued from 2010 to 2017 are:-Year Value (£)2010 £3,082,4682011 £439,4882012 £354,4192013 £4,255,8872014 £10,547,4142015 £140,925,2882016 £1,822,648

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Social Media: Bullying

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure social media companies tackle cyber bullying.

Matt Hancock: The Government expects social media companies, and internet platforms, to have robust processes in place and to act promptly when all forms of abuse, including cyber bullying is reported. That includes acting quickly to removing inappropriate content, and where appropriate, suspending or terminating the accounts of those breaching the rules in place. We are continuing to work closely with industry, including social media companies, charities, schools and parents to tackle this serious issue.

Cycling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 20 March 2017 to Question 68586, what discussions has she had with her counterpart in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on opportunities to increase off-road cycling as part of that Department's Environment Strategy.

Tracey Crouch: This Government remains committed to encouraging more people to engage in sport and physical activity, regardless of their background or level of ability. The Government's Sporting Future strategy published in December 2015 set out that, in future, public investment in sport and physical activity will be based on the contribution that organisations can make to five broad outcomes: Physical Wellbeing; Mental Wellbeing; Individual Development; Social and Community Development; and Economic Development. Cycling, including off-road cycling, is included as part of the strategy. Officials at DCMS are engaged with Defra officials as they develop their Environment Strategy.

Broadband: Linlithgow and East Falkirk

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many businesses in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency have made use of the Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme.

Matt Hancock: To date, one premises has taken up a subsidised connection via the Better Broadband Scheme in the the constituency of Linlithgow and East Falkirk. 6,952 connections have been taken up through the scheme across the UK as a whole. The Department does not hold information on whether applications are from residential or business premises.

Lotteries: Regulation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish proposals to update the regulations governing society lotteries.

Tracey Crouch: The Government's response to the CMS Select Committee's report on society lotteries advised that it intended to explore all the recommendations further, with advice from the Gambling Commission. We are carefully considering the issues raised by the Select Committee and expect to make an announcement in due course.

Lotteries

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward proposals to require advertising of the National Gambling Helpline or BeGambleAware.org at the point of sale of lottery products, both in shops and online.

Tracey Crouch: Camelot, the National Lottery operator, advertises GamCare (where details of the National Gambling Helpline can be found) through the following point of sale sources:On the back of scratchcardsOn the back of lottery ticketsAt the bottom of the title page and each 'play game' page of the National Lottery websiteWithin all player guidesIn addition, Camelot's licences contain various conditions that require them to ensure that both excessive and underage play are discouraged on lottery products Society lotteries are subject to the same regulations as gambling operators, as stipulated by The Gambling Commission's Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling. This includes the requirement to reference gambleaware.co.uk in all print and broadcast advertisements. At present there are no plans to change the requirements for National Lottery advertising or society lottery advertising.

Arts Council England: Finance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding will be provided by Arts Council England to (a) the North East and (b) England in the (i) period 2018 to 2022 and (ii) previous funding period.

Matt Hancock: Information regarding Arts Council England's National Portfolio can be found at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/NPO.

Sports

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will list the top 10 UK sports in terms of regular active participation.

Tracey Crouch: Sport England measures 16+ adult participation in England through its Active Lives Survey, and details of participation rates broken down by sport and other physical activities can be found at the links contained in Sport England's first Active Lives Survey report: https://www.sportengland.org/media/11498/active-lives-survey-yr-1-report.pdf. Grassroots participation in sport is a devolved matter and the responsibility of Sport Scotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.

S4C: Reviews

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to announce who will lead the independent review of S4C.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to confirm the remit of the independent review of S4C.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to announce the commencement date of the independent review of S4C.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will suspend the planned budget reductions to S4C until the review of that channel has been published.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the review of S4C takes into account the views of the people of Wales.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the needs of the independent television sector are taken into account during the review of S4C.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the independent review of S4C will include an assessment of that channel's effect on areas of language use, culture, employment and communities in Wales.

Matt Hancock: The Government is committed to carrying out a review of S4C's remit, governance and funding in 2017. We will announce more details shortly.

S4C: Reviews

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the review of S4C.

Matt Hancock: The department has regular discussions with the Welsh Government on a range of issues, including the S4C review.

S4C: Reviews

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Wales on the Government's review of S4C.

Matt Hancock: The department has regular discussions with the Welsh Office on a range of issues, including the S4C review.

Broadband and Mobile Phones

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government plans to take to improve (a) quality and (b) competition in the mobile and broadband sectors.

Matt Hancock: The UK has one of the most competitive mobile markets in the world with four wholesalers and over forty virtual mobile network operators.In line with its commitment in the 5G strategy, the Government will set out by the end of this year the essential elements of high quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel. This will build on the improved coverage being delivered through licence obligations on mobile network operators that require each mobile operator to provide, by the end of 2017, coverage to 90% of the UK's landmass.Superfast broadband is currently available to over 93% of UK premises, up from 45% in 2010.According to Ofcom's European Broadband Scorecard, the UK currently has the cheapest available fixed broadband services compared to Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Musicians

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on (a) musicians from the EU working in the UK and (b) UK musicians working in the EU.

Matt Hancock: We are working closely with the creative industries to better understand the possible impacts on those working in the sector, including musicians from the EU working in the UK and UK musicians working in the EU, following the UK's decision to leave.

Cultural Heritage: Visas

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on a reciprocal exemption for accredited heritage and museum professions, craftspeople and academics in the new visa regime after the UK leaves the EU.

John Glen: Museums and heritage organisations greatly value the expertise and contributions of a range of professionals from the EU: from conservators to scientists, to curators. DCMS is consulting with stakeholders across the heritage and cultural sectors to fully understand their need to access expertise after we exit from the EU.

Cultural Heritage: Conservation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with heritage sector representatives on establishing a budget for collaborative research projects on conservation issues between the UK and other countries.

John Glen: The government recognises the important contributions our world class academic institutions and researchers make to heritage research. The Secretary of State and the former Minister for Heritage have held round tables with sector representatives to assess the impact of leaving the EU on the heritage sector. The Department remains committed to working with the UK heritage sector to ensure that its needs and views are understood.

S4C: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the announcement on 20 March 2017 of additional funding for S4C, when she plans to conclude the mid-year review to determine whether further funding is required.

Matt Hancock: The mid-year review of S4C funding requirements for 2017/18 will be concluded before the second half of the financial year begins.

Music: Planning Permission

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on live music venues of introducing a statutory agent of change provision into planning law.

Matt Hancock: We are committed to supporting and promoting a thriving live music industry and grassroots music venues are an important part of this. DCMS is working with stakeholders to understand the impacts of planning law on live music venues and with DCLG on the agent of change provision and other issues to help ensure the continued survival and growth of this vital and vibrant sector.

Musicians: Visas

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues and European agencies on temporary and short-term visa permissions and exemptions for musicians and crew after the UK has left the EU.

Matt Hancock: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on a range of issues affecting the creative industries in the context of leaving the EU. The Secretary of State has also held a series of roundtables with industry on the impacts and opportunities for the sector, including representations from the music industry regarding touring musicians and crews.

Performing Arts: Recruitment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives from the film and television industry and with theatre producers on ensuring the casting process is accessible to talented performers across the regions and nations of the UK.

Matt Hancock: We are working with arts and screen bodies to improve access across our sectors. We regularly meet industry, and identifying and developing talent across the UK is an area of focus - as highlighted at the recent British Film Institute (BFI) Skills Strategy launch. The BFI is leading on a range of measures, including the introduction of diversity standards, to improve access opportunities across all BFI Lottery funded activities. In addition, UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre are working with industry to develop a practical tool to support theatres in considering diversity during the casting process; and one of the BBC's new public purposes is to reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all the UK's nations and regions across its output and services.

Gaming Machines

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the consultation, Review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: A review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures was launched in October 2016. Due to the cross government process required prior to publication, we do not anticipate any further announcements before October.

Department of Health

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) improve mental health provision and (b) support the needs of children and young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 29 June 2017.The correct answer should have been:

We are making £1.4 billion available by 2020 to improve the provision of children and young people’s mental health services (CYP MH), including £150250 million specifically to tackle eating disorders. This funding is delivering a major system-wide transformation programme to improve access and make services more widely available across the country, and implementing the vision set out in Future in Mind. To this end all clinical commissioning groups working with their partners, developed CYP MH Transformation Plans in 2015/16, incorporating them last year into their wider National Health Service Sustainability and Transformation Plans. These set out how local agencies are working together to improve children and young people’s mental health across the full spectrum of need. Later this year, the Government will publish a Green Paper on Children and Young People’s Mental Health focused on helping our youngest and most vulnerable members of society receive the best start in life. This will make sure best practice is being used consistently and will help to accelerate improvements across all services so that children and young people get the right mix of prevention and specialist support.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are making £1.4 billion available by 2020 to improve the provision of children and young people’s mental health services (CYP MH), including £150250 million specifically to tackle eating disorders. This funding is delivering a major system-wide transformation programme to improve access and make services more widely available across the country, and implementing the vision set out in Future in Mind. To this end all clinical commissioning groups working with their partners, developed CYP MH Transformation Plans in 2015/16, incorporating them last year into their wider National Health Service Sustainability and Transformation Plans. These set out how local agencies are working together to improve children and young people’s mental health across the full spectrum of need. Later this year, the Government will publish a Green Paper on Children and Young People’s Mental Health focused on helping our youngest and most vulnerable members of society receive the best start in life. This will make sure best practice is being used consistently and will help to accelerate improvements across all services so that children and young people get the right mix of prevention and specialist support.

Microplastics: Health Hazards

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2017 to Question 70013, for what reasons that Answer does not refer to the reasons why his Department is not planning to conduct an assessment of the implications of microplastics entering the marine environment on human health.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom Government, from an environmental perspective, is conducting research on the capacity for microplastics to cause harm in the marine environment and implications for the food chain. The most likely human exposure to microplastics from the marine environment is via the ingestion of seafood. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been monitoring the scientific evidence concerning the occurrence and effects of microplastics in seafood. On the basis of current information, the FSA considers it is unlikely that the presence of the low levels of microplastic particles that have been reported to occur in certain types of seafood would cause harm to consumers. The FSA will continue to monitor and assess emerging information concerning microplastics in food.

Nurses: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training commissions for mental health nursing there have been in each year since 2007.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below:   Available CommissionsActual places filled2006/074,0903,7282007/083,6963,4422008/093,7693,4972009/103,7553,5432010/113,3983,5472011/123,2653,1492012/133,1323,0252013/142,9083,0792014/153,1433,1012015/163,2433,3212016/173,343Not yet available As at 31 March 2017, there were 8,430 students enrolled on mental health nurse training courses. Sources:- Pre 2013/14 – Strategic health authority multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.- Post 2013/14 – Health Education England workforce statistics on non–medical education commissions.

Nurses: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training commissions have been available for mental health nursing for each year since 2007.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below:   Available CommissionsActual places filled2006/074,0903,7282007/083,6963,4422008/093,7693,4972009/103,7553,5432010/113,3983,5472011/123,2653,1492012/133,1323,0252013/142,9083,0792014/153,1433,1012015/163,2433,3212016/173,343Not yet available As at 31 March 2017, there were 8,430 students enrolled on mental health nurse training courses. Sources:- Pre 2013/14 – Strategic health authority multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.- Post 2013/14 – Health Education England workforce statistics on non–medical education commissions.

Nurses: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many mental health nursing commissions have been planned for each of the next five years.

Mr Philip Dunne: Nursing places across all fields, including mental health, will no longer be commissioned in the same way that has been done previously by Health Education England (HEE). The reforms for healthcare education funding for pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals will see students move onto the standard student loans system. HEE will no longer commission student places, but will be responsible for ensuring that there is adequate funding provision for clinical placements to ensure the National Health Service has sufficient numbers in training to meet future workforce needs. HEE and the education sector will work together to ensure that there are training places in the required subjects and in locations where the NHS has sufficient clinical placement capacity. An overview of the mental health workforce will be published shortly in HEE's annual Workforce Plan for England.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the change in expenditure on mental health in all areas covered by the capped expenditure process.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service and wider health system has examined how to sustain and improve care – which produced the NHS Five Year Forward View. The Government committed to providing an additional £10 billion in real terms by 2020-21 to back the NHS’s plan, enabling it to deliver key priorities like seven day care, improved access to cancer treatments and better mental health services. All public services, local NHS areas need to live within the budget agreed – otherwise they effectively take up resources that could be spent on GPs, mental health care, and cancer treatment. As part of their financial planning, NHS England and NHS Improvement have been running a process to look at how a small number of areas could do more to balance their financial plans, as many already have. This Government is investing over £1 billion on mental health per year.

NHS: Cybercrime

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of IT security systems within NHS trusts.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Cyber resilience in the health and care system is an issue that the Government takes very seriously. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health commissioned Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian, and the Care Quality Commission to review data security in September 2015. These reviews were published in July 2016 and identified the need for steps to be taken to protect health and care systems against cyber attack. Both the National Data Guardian and the Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission wrote to National Health Service trusts highlighting key steps they needed to take to improve cyber security. We will be replying to their report shortly. Following the 12 May 2017 ransomware attack, the Chief Information Officer for health and care is undertaking a review into the attack which is expected to conclude in the autumn.That review will provide an assessment of what actions are required to mitigate the risk and impact of a future cyber attack on the NHS, looking in particular at infrastructure, incident response and resilience, and ensuring that this learning is widely shared across all parts of the healthcare system.

Lifeline Project

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will make an assessment of the lessons to be learned for the payment-by-results contract model for support services from the closing down of drugs and alcohol charity Lifeline.

Steve Brine: The Department commissioned a three year independent evaluation of the Payment by Results (PbR) for Recovery Pilot Programme in 2014. The evaluation was undertaken by the University of Manchester and publication of a final report is expected later this year. This evaluation is aimed at ensuring the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of drug and alcohol recovery PbR models.

Hospitals: Shropshire

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the appointment of an independent chair of the clinical commissioning groups overseeing the review into the Shropshire Future Fit process.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will appoint an independent chair to decide the outcome of the Shropshire Future Fit process.

Steve Brine: NHS England advises that Shropshire, and Telford and the Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups have appointed Professor Simon Brake as independent chair for the Future Fit Joint Committee. The Joint Committee will meet in the near future to progress Future Fit discussions. The reconfiguration of services is a matter for the local National Health Service and it would not be appropriate for Ministers or the Department to intervene at this stage.

NHS Trusts: Migrant Workers

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has held with NHS trusts in the North East on securing the status of non-UK EU nationals employed by the NHS in the region; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not had meetings with National Health Service trusts in the North East of England specifically on the topic of securing the status of non-United Kingdom European Union nationals employed by the NHS in the region. The Secretary of State holds regular discussions with all NHS trusts throughout the year on a broad range of issues, including workforce. There are currently 150,000 staff from EU27 countries making a vital and valued contribution to our health and care system. The Secretary of State is committed to ensuring that the NHS and social care system have the nurses, midwives, doctors, carers and other health professionals that it needs.On Monday 26 June the Government published “The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union: safeguarding the position of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU”. The policy paper outlines how the Government intends to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU. As Brexit negotiations continue the Department and its arm’s length bodies will continue to support the health system’s preparation for Brexit to ensure the NHS is able to deliver the services that patients rely on. The Department is undertaking analysis of overall staffing levels across the NHS as a result of Britain’s exit from the EU and the future immigration system, as part of our workforce planning.

NHS: Pay

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's public sector pay restraint policy on (a) the living standards of NHS staff and (b) recruitment and retention within the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made it clear that the support and welfare of National Health Service staff is a top priority as they do a fantastic job - the Government is committed to ensuring they can continue to deliver world-class patient care.

NHS: Staff

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed by the NHS in (a) 2020, (b) 2025 and (c) 2030.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of clinical staff who will be employed by the NHS in (a) 2020, (b) 2025 and (c) 2030.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of staff employed in clinical roles in the NHS by (a) 2020, (b) 2025 and (c) 2030.

Mr Philip Dunne: Responsibility for staffing levels rests with individual National Health Service trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service, taking into account skill mix and efficiency. Health Education England is responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient future supply of staff to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system. Its latest Workforce Plan for England covering the period 2016/17 is available in this link:https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf

Health Services: Private Sector

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the proposed accountable care systems will involve the private sector.

Steve Brine: On 15 June NHS England's Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, announced nine areas that would begin the process of becoming an Accountable Care System. It is for Accountable Care Systems to determine how the private sector is involved within their area. However, no private sector organisation is on the governing bodies of any of the prospective Accountable Care Systems, or any of the Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships.

Sleep Apnoea

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea in the last five years.

Steve Brine: The number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of sleep apnoea is as follows: YearSum of Finished Admission Episodes2011-1224,2702012-1323,6842013-1424,1292014-1524,1312015-1622,594

Sleep Apnoea: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to make magnetic copper rings available on the NHS to alleviate snoring.

Steve Brine: Currently, there are no plans to introduce magnetic copper rings to alleviate snoring.

Medical Equipment: Oxygen

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make high-tech cooler vests for oxygen-starved bodies available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: There are currently no plans to make high-tech cooler vests for oxygen starved bodies available on the National Health Service.

Fracking: Health

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the findings of the Medact report, A public health assessment of shale gas in England, published in July 2016.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) reviews the evidence base on the health impacts of chemical and radiological emissions associated with shale gas extraction as it emerges, considering the available evidence as a whole. The 2016 MEDACT report is one of a large number of publications PHE is currently considering.

Obesity: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce obesity among young people.

Steve Brine: We launched “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” in August 2016. Our world-leading plan focuses on actions that are likely to have the biggest impact on reducing obesity in children and young people. Key measures in the plan include the soft drinks industry levy, the sugar reduction programme, helping children to enjoy an hour of physical activity every day and a healthy rating scheme for primary schools. We are confident that the measures announced will make a real difference and estimate could reduce childhood obesity rates by around a fifth over the next 10 years. A copy of “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” is attached and is available at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the quantitive faecal immunochemical test will be available on the NHS as a DIY procedure.

Steve Brine: Faecal Immunochemical Testing will replace the original Faecal Occult Blood test as the first line test in bowel cancer screening in April 2018. Men and women aged 60 will be sent the self-sampling kit, requiring only one sample instead of three, to be used in the privacy of their own home.

Strokes: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of strokes in young adults.

Steve Brine: The prevention of stroke in young adults is not very different from the measures needed to prevent stroke in older adults. The most common causes are hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, atrial fibrillation and other heart disease. There are some that are more common in younger people such arteriovenous malformations, aneurysms, cavernomas, patent foramen oval, antiphospholipid syndrome, recreational drug use and others. Most are rare and the indigence of stroke is low in people under the age of 40. Public awareness that stroke can happen to children and young adults and the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle is critical. The Stroke Association has run such educational campaigns. The diabetes prevention programme and publicity campaigns from Public Health England aimed at reducing vascular disease e.g. five a day, anti-smoking, will all have an impact on stroke as well as heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has recently published a comprehensive guideline on stroke (accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) which has sections relating to prevention:http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/stroke-guideline

Carers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent progress he has made to improve support for carers.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what respite facilities he plans to make available to support carers.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to create a carer's pack with information to support carers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to supporting carers to provide care as they would wish, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing, employment and wider life chances. The Care Act 2014 introduced important new rights for carers, for the first time putting them on the same footing as the people for whom they care. Carers now have legal rights to an assessment of, and support for, their needs where eligible. In addition, since 2010 the rate of Carer’s Allowance has increased from £53.90 to £62.70 a week, meaning an additional £450 a year for carers. The National Health Service contribution to the Better Care Fund, which helps to join up health and care, includes funding to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014, including £130 million earmarked for the provision of carers’ breaks. The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 set a clear expectation that carers should routinely be identified by services and given access to information and advice about the support available. Local authorities also have a wider duty to offer information and advice to all carers.

Cancer

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Cancer Transformation Fund to be made available to support the Cancer Recovery Package and the cancer stratified follow-up pathways.

Steve Brine: In December 2016, Cancer Alliances were invited to submit bids against a £200 million transformation fund (for 2017/18 and 2018/19) to support delivery of early diagnosis and implementation of the Recovery Package and stratified follow-up pathways. Based on an assessment of the bids, NHS England has decided to take a phased approach to releasing the funding over the course of 2017/18.

Sopra Steria: Conflict of Interests

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice he received on his potential conflict of interest relating to his board membership of Sopra Steria; and if he will place a copy of that advice in the Library.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is neither a board member, nor a shareholder, of Sopra Steria. As such no conflict of interest arises and no advice has been provided on this matter.

Tobacco

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission Public Health England to review heat-not-burn tobacco products in the same way that it has reviewed vaping products.

Steve Brine: The Government has asked the Committee on Toxicology to look at the data submitted by companies and to give an opinion based on this research on the absolute and relative risk of the products concerned, and to indicate the strength of the evidence on which their opinion is based. Public Health England has been commissioned to review this opinion and the available evidence on novel tobacco products, and to provide advice to the Government on this issue.

Sugar

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral contribution by the former Under-Secretary of State for Health on 21 March 2017, Official Report, Column 775, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Food and Drink Federation's decision not to introduce the Government's 20 per cent optional reduction in sugar content in its members' products by 2020 on his Department's policies to tackle (a) childhood obesity and (b) childhood tooth decay.

Steve Brine: There has been no assessment made of the effect of Food and Drink Federation members’ compliance or non-compliance in achieving the 20% reduction in sugar content of key products contributing to children’s intakes by 2020 on childhood obesity or childhood tooth decay. In ‘Sugar reduction: The evidence for action’, published in October 2015, Public Health England (PHE) undertook modelling work to estimate the potential health impact and wider economic benefits of achieving the average population intake recommendation for sugar. This modelling found that achieving this over a 10-year period would result in 4,100 premature deaths and 204,000 cases of dental caries being averted, resulting in a total cost saving to the National Health Service of £484 million. PHE encourages all businesses to achieve the reductions in sugar as set out in ‘Childhood obesity: a plan for action’. A detailed assessment of industry’s progress will be published in March 2018.

Air Pollution: Death

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: There is no estimate of the total number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution. The air pollution health indicator 3.01 in the Public Health Outcomes Framework estimates the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to PM2.5 air pollution (in local authority areas) in England. This ranges from less than 3% in the least polluted rural areas to over 7% in some London boroughs. In 2015, the average for England was 4.7%. This is equivalent to approximately 25,000 adult deaths attributable to fine particulate matter exposure (PM2.5) in England every year.

Pregnancy: Smoking

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that smoking rates among pregnant women fall.

Steve Brine: The Government is developing a new tobacco control plan, which will be published shortly. The plan will contain actions to reduce the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy.

Brain: Tumours

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to increase funding for brain tumour research over the current Parliament; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research is bringing together clinicians, charities, patients, and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of research into brain tumours. The Working Group is chaired by Professor Chris Whitty, the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser. The Working Group met for the third time on 17 May, and plans to report to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health (Lord O’Shaughnessy) by autumn 2017.

Clinical Psychologists: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will fund trainee clinical psychologists beyond 2020.

Mr Philip Dunne: The funding of training places beyond 2020 falls outside the remit of the current Spending Review period.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NHS England publishes on minimising drop-outs from the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There is currently no published guidance on minimising patients dropping out of treatment in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. If a service has identified high levels of patient drop out they are encouraged to conduct a local audit in to specific parts of the pathway to identify where drop out levels are high and reasons for this. Last year the National Improving Access to Psychological Therapies team provided a number of recovery workshops across the country which included presentations from services that have developed strategies to manage drop-out rates and ‘did not attends’ within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. These workshops were open and available to all Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health plans to publish an Evidence Based Treatment Pathway for Common Mental Health Disorders later in the year which is expected to include guidance in this area.

NHS: Pay

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to end the 1 per cent public sector pay cap in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government will consider carefully recommendations from the independent pay review bodies before making any decisions on the level of pay award for National Health Service staff.

NHS: Pay

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to implement the recommendations of independent pay review bodies on NHS pay.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government will consider carefully recommendations from the independent pay review bodies before making any decision on the level of pay award for National Health Service staff. The Government accepted recommendations for 2017/18 which have been implemented.

NHS Property Services: Buildings

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total associated annual costs of the new NHS Property Services Limited headquarters in London is.

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual rental cost of the new NHS Property Services Limited headquarters in London is.

Mr Philip Dunne: The total annual rental cost of the new NHS Property Services (NHSPS) offices for London-based staff is £1.37 million excluding VAT, based on a five year lease period; and the total associated costs, including rates, landlord service charges, and facilities management costs, are estimated to be an additional £1.08 million annually. Gresham Street was the lowest cost of the accommodation options available to NHSPS in London that can accommodate the amount of staff needed. The Company explored the available Government estate, but no premises were large enough or available at the right time.

HIV Infection: Clinical Trials

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's announcement of 20 June 2017 on the HIV PrEP Impact trial in England, what steps are being taken to ensure that high-risk patients are able to access the trial outside London, Manchester and Brighton.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's announcement of 20 June 2017 on the HIV PrEP Impact trial in England, when the timeline for the next steps of the trial referred to in the announcement will be published.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's announcement of 20 June 2017 on the HIV PrEP Impact trial in England, when the frequently asked questions document referred to in the announcement will be published.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's announcement of 20 June 2017 on the HIV PrEP Impact trial in England, how long he expects it will take to receive approval from the Research Ethics Committee once the drug procurement contract for the trial has been agreed.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's announcement of 20 June 2017 on the HIV PrEP Impact trial in England, how long he expects genitourinary medicine clinics and trial sites to take to prepare in readiness for the trial once the drug procurement contract for the trial has been agreed.

Steve Brine: The HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact trial will seek to engage as many of the approximately 230 genitourinary medicine clinics in England as possible. All clinics will be offered the opportunity to participate, regardless of where they are situated. In keeping with the open access nature of sexual health services, patients will be able to attend any clinic in England that is participating in the trial and therefore have their trial eligibility assessed regardless of where they live. NHS England and Public Health England have stated that the trial will begin by the summer of 2017, available to view here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-on-prep-impact-trial-in-england The final timescale will be considered at the July meeting of the PrEP Programme Oversight Board (POB) when updated information on the likely timeline of availability of trial drug at trial sites will be provided. Several bids to supply the trial drug were received on the June 29 deadline. If the trial timeline needs to change, new information will be provided in the Stakeholder Update due to be issued after the July 14 PrEP POB. The Frequently Asked Questions will be published following review at the July meeting of the PrEP POB. The PrEP Impact trial application was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee (REC) at the end of June. The committee will issue a final ethical opinion within 60 days. The current expectation is that approval will be obtained in time for the drug becoming available. The REC approval timeline is independent of the trial drug procurement process. Before a trial site can begin to recruit patients, they must provide confirmation of capacity and capability to the Trial co-ordination centre and the timescales for this can vary across localities. This process includes negotiating and finalising local trial contracts and having site staff undergo trial-specific training provided by the Trial co-ordination centre (St Stephen’s Clinical Research). This process will occur in parallel to obtaining national ethics approval and the trial drug procurement activities. Some sites may be in a position to begin trial participant recruitment as soon as the trial drug becomes available.

NHS: Buildings

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish (a) his letter to NHS Improvement and (b) NHS Improvement's letter to NHS trusts of 24 June 2017 on the need for fire safety tests on NHS buildings.

Mr Philip Dunne: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has sent no such letter. On 24 June, Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS Improvement, sent an e-mail to all National Health Service trust and foundation trust chief executives, seeking their urgent and full co-operation in inspecting their properties, and outlining the help that would be available to them. It said: “Dear colleagues,I would be grateful for your immediate help with the urgent actions outlined in this email. Please cascade this to the relevant on-call directors and estates on-call within your organisations.Thank you for the enormous effort that you and your teams have put in to completing the questionnaires sent last week, following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower.Following discussions with Secretary of State, I am requesting that we take further proactive and precautionary measures and instigate, with immediate effect, an inspection by your local fire and rescue services of all your properties by close of play tomorrow evening, to ensure that there are no urgent risk safety risks. I am aware that many of you have already undertaken a fire assessment with the relevant fire authorities – so please only take action if you have not done so already.Upon completion of this inspection, please confirm by way of letter (signed by both trust CEO and fire inspector) that this has been concluded, and whether there are any immediate risks that need resolving. We will then work with trusts directly where an urgent decisions are required. Please send your email confirmation and attachment to [redacted]We understand that it might be difficult to mobilise support from your end at such short notice, and so efforts are in train to ensure that these actions are also prioritised through Home Office.You will also be aware, from [redacted] letter on Monday, that we will be taking action to mobilise further local support where this is required. This process is being managed in parallel to this request.Once again may I thank you for you cooperation in this matter.Best wishesJim”

NHS: Buildings

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his announcement of tests of fire safety of NHS premises on 24 June 2017, whether he has made arrangements for the Department for Communities and Local Government to conduct tests on all cladding on NHS premises of the kind being carried out on high-rise residential buildings.

Mr Philip Dunne: Yes.

Health Services: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the timescale for consultation for Dudley's multi-specialty community provider complies with the statutory requirements for public bodies.

Steve Brine: The Department expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to assure themselves that they have satisfied their legal duties, including the need to consult local populations. CCGs have a duty to consult on their commissioning plans as set out in Section 14Z13 of the NHS Act 2006. The duty does not set any absolute timeframes. The Dudley CCG undertook a full public consultation last summer to inform the development of the Multi-speciality Community Provider contract. The consultation exercise reached out to several thousand people (including staff) and received over 600 contributions. A report was commissioned from ICF Consulting Services on the consultation process and considered by the CCG Board in September 2016. A copy of the report is available on the Dudley CCG’s website.

Health Services: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provisions have been made to ensure continuity of services in the event of a failure of Dudley's multi-specialty community provider.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) penalties or (b) compensation would apply in the event of early termination of the contract for Dudley's multi-speciality community provider.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans are in place to ensure continuity of care in the event that an operator of the contract for Dudley's multi-speciality community provider terminated that contract early.

Steve Brine: The commissioner – in this case Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – is solely responsible for carrying out the procurement and it will be for the commissioner to determine break points, penalties, compensation and arrangements to ensure continuity of service. As with all standard National Health Service contracts, we would expect any multi-speciality community provider (MCP) contract to set out the circumstances in which the contract may be terminated by either party and the process following termination. It will be for the CCG to determine where the break points should be, factoring in the potential impacts on value for money. In accordance with the existing terms of the NHS Standard Contract, there will be a 12 month no fault termination clause. The Dudley MCP contract will ensure that in the event of a provider not meeting their obligations, and where there is a need for an early termination, the provider will be required to pay the commissioners any additional costs and expenses incurred as a result of the termination. This will include those incurred in recommissioning the services covered by the contract from an alternative provider for the rest of the term of the contract as well as ensuring service continuity.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department will issue a formal response to the consultation on Special Category Mechanism and Financial and Other Support in England, published on 6 March 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The consultation closed on 17 April, and the responses to this are currently being considered.

Alcoholism

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will bring forward a strategy to support the children of alcoholics.

Steve Brine: The Government is considering what further support it can provide to tackle alcohol harms, focusing on vulnerable groups including families and children.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much he expects to be saved through 2017's NHS capped expenditure process.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston on 27 June 2017 to Question 852.

Health Professions: Training

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students applied for (a) nursing and (b) midwifery degrees in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: These data are available at the following link:www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/2017-cycle-applicant-figures-%E2%80%93-march-deadline

Health Professions: Training

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students he expects to begin (a) nursing and (b) midwifery degrees in each English university in (i) September 2017 and (ii) later entry periods for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The application cycle for student nurse intake in autumn 2017 is ongoing. Applicants can continue to apply until the end of June or can enter clearing following A Level results in August. The last publication from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in March 2017 showed that there were 40,560 applicants for the 23,237 commissioned nursing and midwifery courses in England. UCAS will continue to release updated information about the number of offers made by universities and acceptances from candidates with the next update covering applications to the end of June.

Hospital Wards: Gender

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the use of mixed-sex wards in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: All patients deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The Government has made it clear that providers of National Health Service-funded care are expected to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, except where this is in the overall best interest of the patient, or reflects their personal choice.Any hospital that places patients in mixed-sex accommodation can face fines of £250 per patient, per day.The NHS Constitution (first published in March 2012) introduced a pledge under “Respect, consent and confidentiality”: - “that if you are admitted to hospital, you will not have to share sleeping accommodation with patients of the opposite sex, except where appropriate, in line with the details set out in the handbook to the NHS Constitution” In December 2010, the national reporting of breaches in relation to sleeping accommodation commenced and is collected monthly from all NHS providers and organisations that provide NHS-funded care (including Independent and Voluntary Sector organisations). From April 2011 the collection became mandatory.Delivering zero breaches for every trust, every month, is unlikely. This is because it is occasionally right to mix patients (e.g. if a patient is admitted in the middle of the night and the only way to release an appropriate bed would be to awaken and move other patients). In such cases, the breach should be rectified as soon as possible.

NHS Shared Business Services: Correspondence

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date he was first made aware that 35 sacks of mail held by NHS Shared Business Services had been destroyed.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This matter was brought to the Department’s attention on 26 May 2017 as part of the National Audit Office’s investigations into clinical correspondence handling at NHS Shared Business Services. The National Audit Office’s report (Investigation: clinical correspondence handling at NHS Shared Business Services, 27th June 2017) states that an internal investigation by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) found that “… NHS SBS had destroyed 35 sacks of records in line with NHS England’s policy that medical records can be destroyed 10 years after the death of the patient.”

Dementia: Research

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS funding has been spent on dementia research since 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research which spent £36.7 million on dementia research in 2015/16; and through its Policy Research Programme which spent an additional £0.9 million on dementia research, to total £37.6 million. All Government spending on dementia research in 2015/16 was £96.4 million, the Medical Research Council contributing £55.4 million. Information on spending for 2016/17 is not yet available. National Health Service spending in 2015/16 was £116.4 billion.

NHS: Pay

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the public sector pay cap on staffing levels in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: National Health Service staff do a fantastic job and the government is committed to ensuring they can continue to deliver world-class patient care. Pay restraint has helped the NHS to recruit an additional 33,800 (6.4%) professionally qualified clinical staff since May 2010.

NHS: Overseas Visitors

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on recovering money from overseas visitors and other chargeable NHS patients.

Mr Philip Dunne: As set out in our manifesto, this Government, having been the first to clamp down on this issue, remains committed to ensuring overseas visitors and migrants not eligible for National Health Service-funded care make a fair contribution. The steps we have taken have resulted in identified income from overseas visitors and migrants rising from £89 million in 2012-13 to £289 million in 2015-16. We expect this to increase significantly once figures are finalised for 2016-17.

Hospitals: Standards

Matt Warman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress is being made on turning round hospitals in special measures.

Mr Jeremy Hunt: In the last four years, 35 trusts have been put into Special Measures. Of those 20 have now come out – eight of which are now rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. I particularly congratulate the staff of Barking, Havering and Redbridge, East Kent, Medway and North Cumbria, which have all come out of Special Measures recently.

Hospitals: Standards

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress is being made on turning round hospitals in special measures.

Mr Jeremy Hunt: In the last four years, 35 trusts have been put into Special Measures. Of those 20 have now come out – eight of which are now rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. I particularly congratulate the staff of Barking, Havering and Redbridge, East Kent, Medway and North Cumbria, which have all come out of Special Measures recently.

Health Services: Expenditure

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the capped expenditure process on patient care.

Mr Philip Dunne: Providers have managed to reduce the deficit from £2.4 billion (in 2015-16) to £791 million this year. This success isn’t universal. Some areas consistently exceed budgets, requiring increased savings by others. 14 areas have joined a ‘Capped Expenditure Process’ with commissioners and providers working together to achieve budgets assured by their Boards. Their proposals involve patients and staff; placing patient safety and constitutional rights at the heart of decision making.

Perinatal Mortality: Counselling

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to ensure that every hospital has a bereavement suite.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Since 2010, we have invested £35 million in the National Health Service to improve birthing environments and this included better bereavement rooms and quiet area spaces at nearly 40 hospitals to support bereaved families. We are also funding Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities, Royal Colleges and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss to produce a National Bereavement Care Pathway to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the NHS. The pathway will cover all forms of baby loss to ensure that all bereaved parents are offered equal, high quality, individualised, safe and sensitive care.

NHS: Buildings

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS Property Services of Sir Robert Naylor's review of the NHS estate.

Mr Philip Dunne: Sir Robert Naylor’s independent review set out a vision for how the National Health Service might make best use of its estate and support the delivery of clinical transformation. We are giving careful consideration to the Review’s recommendations, working closely with NHS Property Services and others. As part of this we will be considering the impact of any changes on NHS Property Services.